7 Days to die diary
by Ice Tiger 146
Summary: My very first 7 days to die fan fiction. Follow the adventures of IceTiger through the pathway the apocalypse. Will she survive? Will she die? What happens on the 7th day? Read more to find out what happens next. I do not own anything related to 7 Days to die. This is merely a fan fiction
1. Chapter 1

Day 1:

I woke up feeling horrible. I have no idea where I am except it is hot and I feel like I have a major hangover. As far as I can tell the only things I have on me is a landmark block, 1 can of food, 1 bottle of water a torch and a bandage. I am completely naked. The bandits must have stripped me while I was unconscious.

I need to find shelter and establish a place for me to survive in, I have no map, so it looks like I must draw one to get myself sorted. I get up off the ground and start running north. Maybe I can find a forest near a town with water supply.

As I run, I see a backpack on the ground. I pick it up and open it up to see if there is anything valuable in it. I find 2 rolls of tape and a compound bow. Jackpot. There are birds' nests everywhere so if I clear them out, I have food and feathers for arrows. It should take the walkers out of my way. As I run, I keep finding birds' nests and I clean them out completely.

Along the way I collect grass, wood and stones. I can make myself a place to sleep with the grass and the wood and the stone I can use to make more things. I guess the tape I found will be useful after all. It would be better if I can find some rope. As I run, I come across an area that is completely burned. The stench is horrible. I should be careful, because if there are walkers here, they could still be burning and burn me in the process. Trust nothing.

I run through the burned area and I slow down at the start of what seems to be Greenland. Not forest, but there are enough trees to at least make a small camp fire with the wood. I can also make myself some food and boil some water to keep me going. Maybe I can make some small boxes to store my things in as I raid houses. No doubt there will not be much left. Hopefully I can find a pot and a grill. People have already cleaned out bigger places when the breakout happened. I am hopeful that I will find something though.

After walking about an hour, I find a rather big town. I can establish a small dwelling here. It seems like other survivors had the same idea, yet the town seems to be empty. Maybe they also got infected and now roam the streets aimlessly?

I walk a little more careful and try to be as quiet as I can. I don't want to draw more attention to myself. I should pick a place, empty it and establish a safehouse for me there. I don't think there are survivors in this town so I might as well settle myself here. I cross the street and walk up to a double story house. I always wanted to live in a big house. This should suffice.

I knock on the door to see if anyone is in there. Walker or survivor. I must know what I am getting myself into. No answer. I walk to the window to have a look inside and I see the remains of a survivor on the floor. It is unclear if the person is dead and might be a walker or maybe committed suicide and has decomposed till there is nothing left. The stench will be horrible. Lucky the person is laying on a carpet. I bet if I roll the corpse up in the carpet, I can throw it outside and relieve some of the smell and the remains.

Before I head inside, I craft myself a small stone axe and I run to the closest tree. I start chopping it for wood, so I can make myself arrows. I will need to craft arrows if I want to take the walkers down. I see small stones everywhere; I can sharpen those, and they will be the perfect arrows. Sharp enough to break through and kill. I need to get the walkers in the brain otherwise, I am not going to win this war.

I crafted myself about 30 arrows to get me started with. It should be enough to clear out the house. I walk back to the house and crouch. If I open the door and a walker comes out, it won't be able to grab me immediately. I will have bought myself enough time to put an arrow in its head. I turn the knob as quietly as I can and start pushing the door open. The moment the door, I can't stand the smell. My stomach starts to rebel against the smell, and I am left with dry heaves. My stomach is empty so nothing will come out anyway. It takes me several moments for the heaves to stop racking my body. I need to try and get a cloth for the future to keep the smell out. It's awful.

Once I have gathered myself, I turn back to my mission. Capturing the house. I open the door a little more and listen for footsteps. I hear nothing so I walk quietly into the hallway. Once I am at the door to the room with the unidentified corpse, I put an arrow through its head. Rather safe than sorry. I sneak further through the house. When I entered the kitchen, I see a walker slumped against the wall. I aim my bow and hit it in the arm. Suddenly it jerks to life and the most horrible sounds comes out of its throat. The smell is overwhelming, but I must keep it together. I aim again and this time I hit it in the throat. Close, but not there yet. I walk back a few paces and aim down again. Bullseye. The last arrow found its target. The walker lets out its final groan and collapses on the floor. I take a small breather before I continue. My heart is hammering in my chest and I am breaking out in cold sweat. The anxiety is killing me.

I look around the rest of the house and find no more walkers. I go back downstairs so I can get rid of the walkers in the house. I decide to do the one in the living room first. I step closer to it to pull the arrow out, but my luck runs out and the tip breaks off. There goes one useless arrow, nevertheless it was worth the risk. I pull the corpse on the clothes to the centre of the carpet and start rolling it. The entire task is revolting, and I must stop often to gather myself from the dry heaves. Will I ever get used to the smell? I doubt it. Only time will tell. After about 20 minutes of struggling, I finally have the corpse rolled up and I am dragging it outside. Maybe I should leave it close to the entrance, to ward off other walkers and warn others of impending danger if they want to break in and steal my stuff. Going back inside, I head for the kitchen to see how I am going to get this walker out. I suppose I can grab it by its clothes and drag it out. I can also unroll the other walker and use the carpet again. I stand there contemplating my options for a moment until I decide to drag it first and if I don't get anywhere, then I will use the carpet. It shall be known as my death mat.

I grab hold of its shirt and start the process. For a dead half way decomposed and rather thin, it is quite heavy. I am tired and struggling to drag him out alone. I wish I had someone to help me, but so far, I am alone in this world.

Eventually the corpse is outside with its buddy and I go back inside to search for literally anything I can use. I find a nice t-shirt and a jacket that should keep me going. I find a pair of jeans, but it is too small. I'll have to just make do until I can find proper pants. I find a first aid kit in the bathroom and canned food that still looks good in the kitchen. It's about 3 cans of food, but hey, it's 3 meals which means I am okay for 3 days food wise. I find some bottles that are empty in the trash which I can use to fill up with water. In the kitchen I find a pot. Might not last long with fire, but maybe just long enough for me to boil drinking water. I can keep one with clean water and the rest can be on standby until I need them too.

After my search for useful things, I head into the garage to look for wood. I want to board up the windows so if something or someone gets too close, they can't get inside through the glass or see too much of what is going on inside. I have no luck so I wonder if I shouldn't chop down that tree from earlier, so I have wood to board the windows with. I don't know how long it will take me though. I can also use the extra wood to repair holes in the wall if something bad happens.

It's my crappy luck that houses aren't as strong as they should be. Houses here are made of wood, when I have gathered the resources, I can reinforce the walls with concrete, and I should be covered. Concrete will keep most things out because it is rather strong and sturdy. My biggest problem is that it is weak, whilst wet. I must make sure when I put on the concrete layer, that there is no sign of danger, so the integrity of the concrete is not compromised.

I head outside, back to the tree that I was busy with earlier and start chopping some more. 2 hours later and this bloody tree is almost cut through, but it is starting to get dark. I prefer not to be outside at night. The moon seems to fuel the walkers and instead of the steady walking, they break out in a full-blown marathon runner.

With the sun setting, I retreat into the house I picked for me. I close the blinds as best as I can and hope that it will suffice. I don't dare light a fire. I don't need fire anyway, because it is not that cold. I have nothing I really need to cook except the water, but I still have a water bottle full of water. Since the power is out, I can't even boil the water on the stove. How funny is it that humanity is dependent on electricity to be productive?

Once I closed all the curtains as best I can, I start shoving the couch against the front door. Hopefully it should keep the walkers from just getting inside lightly. I don't really want to sleep upstairs for the fear of being attacked by either walker or human. I am not going down without a fight, but I need to sleep as well. I don't trust humans. I can trust walkers, because they will always bite you and be out to kill and turn you. Humans are unpredictable. They might be your friend. They might be your enemy disguised as your friend. They might just plainly be your enemy. I won't risk sleeping upstairs in the bed until it is safer for me. Maybe I should look around for a key. If I can find the house keys, then I would be so much better off. I wonder if those corpses might have been the owners here.

I move the couch back a little just so I have enough space to sneak out of the house. I crouch and go up to the 2 corpses and look for pockets. No luck. They don't have pockets. Maybe I should check inside again. I go back inside the house and shove the couch against the door again. I scan the walls for a place they might just hang the keys, but I have no such luck. Looks like I won't be able to lock the house as I had hoped.

Going into the kitchen I look around for a can opener so I can sit down and eat dinner. After dinner I can really check out the house for usable. I have all night. I might as well make it a useful night. I find a can opener in one of the drawers in the kitchen and sit down by the table and eat my dinner. It's not the best dinner ever, but it will keep me alive and my stomach from attracting walkers.

After dinner I walk upstairs to the bedrooms. In the main bedroom I grab a couple of pillows and a blanket to sleep under. Looks warm and comfy. In one of the rooms I find a flashlight that still works which means I can light up the place when I really need to. I won't keep this light on permanently. In a room that looks like it belonged to a teenage boy, I find a shelf full of video games and another shelf with books. At least I have some entertainment when I am alone. In the bathroom I open the cabinet under the sink and find soaps, towels and some cotton wool. It is useful to absorb. If I ever get scratched, I can clean the wounds with the cotton wool. In the main bedroom I find nothing but personal items. Nothing in here is of much use, but the clothes I can scrap them into cloths and make bandages out of them. The clothes don't fit me anyway. All over I find paper, items made from brass and a box full of lead fishing weights. I can use this to make bullets for guns. If I can find a way to melt and mould this, I would be good with self-defence. In one of the cupboards I found what looks to be like a medicine cabinet. I grab the pain killers and I find some left over anti biotics. I can use these in case of an emergency.

Once I finished gathering all the things that deems itself to be useful, I head downstairs to chill on the couch. I listen to the sounds of the night and my soul takes a breath. I survived day 1 all by myself. I am hoping that I keep surviving the days to come.

Day 2:

I woke up on the couch where I fell asleep in the early morning hours to the sound of footsteps on the porch. I lay as quiet as possible where I am taking a few minutes to gather myself and get used to my surroundings. It's been a quiet night for the most part, but every single noise wakes me up. I guess it's better to be alert than asleep and dead. As I lay there I listen to try and figure out if it is a walker or human. I hear no grunting noises, but unfortunately that is nothing to go on. For all I know, it's voice could be gone for some reason. I don't know if they just grunt when they see people who are alive or if it is a general thing.

By the entrance I spot my unlit torch I woke up with. I can use that as a weapon if needed. I turn onto my side and sit up as quietly as I can. I go down on my hands and knees and creep to the nearest window. Being very careful not to be seen, I try to see what is outside. It's very hard to stay out of sight, but I must if I want to survive. I manage to see a shadow. It looks like a human. I sneak a quick look out the window and immediately back down again. It seems to be alive, because it was bent over the 2 walkers I dragged outside the previous day. I raise myself a bit higher again to see what is happening. This can either be friend or foe. Trust no one. I see another person there and it looks like they are investigating these 2 dead walkers. My heart beats faster and so loud in my ears, I worry that the people outside will hear it.

By the door is my backpack with the stone axe I carved. I can use that to defend me if needed to as well as the unlit torch. Whatever it is, if it's dangerous, I will kill it. I am not willing to take chances. I sit back down on the floor and almost jump up when I heard a voice from the outside speaking. I can't hear it clearly, but parts of what is being said still comes through to me.

"Do you think …... in here?"

"...know"

"...think someone...there?"

I hear footsteps on the porch and now I can hear the whole conversation.

"There is only one way to find out."

"How do we test it?"

"Knock and listen maybe?"

"What if it's a foe?"

"Then we kill it before it kills us."

"I hope we don't need to. We kind of need the man power. Would be cool if it's friendly because then John can assign me less night shifts."

"Stop moaning. At least you are security. You don't have to do the scut work like I do. I am still on curfew, cleaning duty and room confinement."

"That's your own fault. You wanted to be a cowboy and put the scout team in danger with your loud noises. This is a probation run so let's do it smoothly."

I creep as quietly as I can back to the front door with my axe in my hand. The anxiety is killing me. What are they going to do? What is going on? Do they have a safe settlement? Why do they need man power? I have more questions in my mind, but I hear a knock on the door. What the hell should I do? Answer?

"Any survivor in there?"

I start to tremble not knowing what to expect. The door handle starts turning.

"The door is blocked by something." says the one to the other.

"Should we break the door down?"

"Are you crazy? You will attract walkers from all over!"

"What do we do then? Leave it as it is? Go to the next house?"

"Knock once more and if there is nothing, assume it's dead and move on."

Once more I hear a knock on the door. This time it is louder than the previous one.

"Is there anyone inside? If there is, please make yourself known. We are armed, but we are not here to fight." the one outsider calls out.

"H..H..Hello?" I call out.

"Hello survivor. Are you alive?"

"Y..Yes."

"Are you armed?"

"Y..Yes."

"We are armed as well. We are not here to do you harm, we just want to scavenge the house. We are friendly. If this is your house, please identify yourself and make it clear that this is your house. We will tag the place so no one from our group touches your house."

"How do I know you aren't lying?"

"You don't so do it anyway."

I hesitate to answer wondering if this would be a good idea. I have even more questions now, but there isn't a lot of time to ponder.

"Who are you guys?" I call out.

"I am Ghosted and my friend here is Fudge. What is your name?"

"IceTiger."

"Is that your alias or your real name?"

"Alias."

"Is this your house?"

"Y...Yes. No."

"What? I didn't get that."

"No, it isn't my house, but yes I live here."

"Okay. If you are interested, you can join us, or we can leave you alone if you prefer."

"Who are you guys?"

"We are a survivors camp. All the people who are alive can join the camp. You will have to work to earn your keep though and you will have to adhere to the camp leader and his rules. Our camp is called Dam Duikers. There are other camps similar like this which is like ours, just in different areas. It's a no harm to the living policy."

"How do I know it's the truth?"

"Like I said, you don't so try it anyway. There is nothing I can do or say that will proof to you otherwise unless you experience it for yourself."

"I don't know..."

"Look we scout often. If you want, sleep over it. This is a large town. This will take more than 1 day to clear out and scavenge for useable things. We will be back here till the place is clear. If you change your mind, you can meet up with us. Just call out for me or Fudge but try not to bring walkers with you. On the last day that we finish here we can come back and tell you we are done if you haven't joined up with us by then. Just be warned, that we will leave nothing behind where we scavenge. Do you need any specific supplies? We will bring you some of it back and leave it by the door to give you a small surviving chance and because the rest of it, we are taking with us." 

"Can you bring me some food?"

"No problem. We have a lot of food at our camp though. Just saying."

"Thanks."

I go back to the window to see both leave. Both are average in height. They are dressed in jeans and t-shirt. Both have helmets on with a light on top. Both have backpacks, vests that looks bulletproof, holsters with pistols in and both are carrying compound bows. I don't see any vehicles, but I kinda expect that because where will they get petrol and they are paranoid about attracting walkers. I go back to the couch I was sleeping on and sit down replaying the whole scenario in my head.

What if they end up killing me? What if they are psychopaths? What if this is really what they promise it to be? Will I survive on my own? Can I have a bed? Should I go with them? Will they bring me back some food? Where is the camp? What is the leader like? What work will I have to do?

I found no answers to my questions. Maybe I should take a leap of faith and try. If I die, I am going to heaven to be with my family, which isn't that bad. It's just the fear before I get killed that will suck. If I get enslaved at this camp and treated like shit, I can always escape and endure life on my own. If I can't escape, I can commit suicide and be with my family. If I don't go, then I know I am on my own and I have no guarantee I will stay alive. If I get bitten and I turn, then I will be dwelling the earth until someone puts me out of my misery. If things are as good as they promise and everything works out perfectly, then I will be sorted until I die an old aged death in my sleep. I can rebuild my life again. My soul can take a breath. I think I should risk it. I gather everything I think I might need in my backpack and move back the couch. I open the front door and step out onto the porch. I close the door behind me again and start to wonder how on earth will I know exactly where these 2 are?

"GHOSTED? FUDGE?" I shout

No response. I head to the sidewalk and look up and down the street. No sign of any sort of life. I tighten my grip around my axe and turn left. I walk down the street and try again.

"GHOSTED! FUDGE!"

No response. I walk a little bit further down the street and try again. No response. Should I go back and wait for them at the house? Will I get ambushed here in the open? Was it just a trick to get me out of the house? I turn around to walk back and almost walk right into the grip of a walker. I scream and backtrack a few steps.

"Fuck off!" I shout

I completely forget everything that I am supposed to do and drop my axe. I take a few steps back again and trip over something and fall hard on my back. I can't breathe. I can hardly move. Fuck this is it. This is how I go down. The walker drops down to its knees and lunges at me. I skid back a few centimetres and try to get it off me. It tries to bite me in the leg, but I kick it as hard as I can in the face. There is a bone chilling crunching sound as my foot finds its face. The walker moans an angry moan and stumbles back. I skid backwards further and look around for my axe. It's to my right close to the walker. I turn onto my stomach and crawl towards it. The walker has recovered and goes for me again. It gets onto its knees again and grabs me by the arm. I struggle to crawl forward to grab the axe and shake the walker off my arm. Multitasking was never my strong suit. Its nails are biting into my arm. Lucky the jacket is in the way so he can't scratch me, but it's about to bite down on my arm anyway so it's over. The walker jerks my arm up to its mouth and just as it is about to bite down a sound of something moving swiftly in the air passes by and penetrates the walker's shoulder. It knocks the walker off its feet and the walker falls to its side. I scramble away from the walker and grab my axe. The walker is still alive, so I run over to it and hit it hard on the neck with the axe. The axe cuts through the neck and decapitates the walker. The body of the walker slumps down onto the ground and the head rolls towards me. I back away a few more steps and turn around so see who saved my bacon. It's the 2 guys I saw previously.

"Thanks!" I call out.

They walk towards me at a brisk pace. I stay where I am and watch them approach. I try to catch my breath and steady my hands. I am shaking all over. This is the first time in my life I have ever killed anything.

"So you ventured outside of your hidey hole. You looking for us or what?"

"I uh I was looking for you yeah."

"So now you found us. What's up?"

"I uhm...I uhm..."

"What is it? We haven't got all day."

"I uhm...was wondering if the...uhm...offer is still standing to join you?"

"Yes, it is. Why? You want in on it?"

"Y... Yes."

"Ok cool. So, I am Ghosted and this is Fudge."

Ghosted is slightly taller than I am with curly black hair. There are stray hairs that is slowly going grey with age. He has a short cut up front but a ponytail at the back. His eyes are a swamp-like green. He is shaved clean but there is a hint of stubble along his jaw line. I can see the deep aged wrinkles in his face. He looks to be about 45 give or take. He has scars all over his arms. I wonder to myself what he used to do that made those scars on his arms. He is wearing a white t-shirt with what looks to be blood stains between the words 'Metallica' written on the shirt. He is wearing blue jeans and what looks to be like black combat boots. He is well built with a lot of muscle that makes him almost look bigger and fatter than he really is. He makes me think of a 70's or 80's rock fan.

Fudge is as tall as I am and is completely bald. He has a moustache. Also swamp green eyes. He is wearing glasses. He looks a lot younger than Ghosted. I don't see as much wrinkles on his face so he must be around 30. Maybe a bit younger. Are they related? I can't tell. He is wearing a plain black t-shirt with black jeans and white trainers. He has a watch on his arm and a bracelet in what I presume to be silver. He is quite skinny, but you can also see a lot of muscles on him. He looks like he can do some damage even though he isn't that big.

"Hi I am IceTiger." I say and extend a hand to formally greet them.

Both shakes my hand and looks a little confused at the formality.

"Have you brought anything with you that is useful?" Fudge asks.

"I don't know if it's useful to you, but it looked useful to me." I take off my backpack and open it.

Inside my bag is the unlit torch, 2 bottles of drinkable water. 1 can of food. The 25 arrows of which a few is broken. Probably broke when I fell on them. 1 first aid kit. A can opener, a flashlight, 3 bandages, pain killers, anti-biotics, soap and the lead and brass. Ghosted breaks out in a loud and unexpected laughter.

"What is so funny?" I ask.

"You. You seriously brought soap with you? For what?"

"Just because the world has gone to hell, doesn't mean you should smell like it either."

"Dude, you should smell like that otherwise you will be a magnet for walkers. Why do you have arrows, but no bow?" Ghosted asks with a curious frown

I look down at my feet and kick at a pebble in the street.

"I forgot my bow at the house." I reply

Ghosted breaks out in another bout of laughter and Fudge joins him.

"You are new at this aren't you Tiger?" Ghosted asks between the laughter.

"Yeah. Sorta."

"No worries. We can teach you. You can soap our shirts." Ghosted says and laughs again.

"Piss off. I survived. I got knocked out and woke up in the middle of nowhere with nothing and now I am here."

"As did we all." Fudge says with a smile.

"How long have you been doing this?" I ask.

"About 4 weeks now." said Fudge

"Ok so if you also woke up like I did, do you remember how you got there?"

"Nope. You?"

"No."

"Anyway, let's get a move on lady. We got houses to loot and walkers to kill. You still coming with us? We can use the extra hands to carry more home. You can just stay behind us, and we will hand you everything we want you to bring back with us." said Fudge

"I am not that useless."

"Without proper equipment, you are." said Fudge

"I told you I have a bow."

"Had. We aren't going back so you have no weapon except for that weakly crafted axe of yours." said Fudge

"Why aren't we going back?"

"Because you already got all the useful stuff in the house. I didn't say you were stupid." said Ghosted

"True. What if I go back and fetch the bow?"

"Rule number one: Nobody leaves each other's side. Where we go, you go and likewise the other way around. Even if you just want to take a piss. Whenever the is a disagreement about where we are going, there is to be voted. If it's 1 vs 1 then you go neither way and go somewhere completely different. Got that?" asked Ghosted

"I guess. Rather organized. So, can we go fetch my bow?"

Both looked at each other for a second. The look they share seems to speak a lot of unsaid words. The silence grew and so did my impatience.

"Seriously. It's not that far out of the way and then I would be more useful. I can also defend myself then and if something goes wrong, then I can be of use." I said.

"She has a point." Fudge said to Ghosted.

"Let's vote on it then. All in favour of fetching the bow, raise your hand." said Ghosted

I raise my hand and look around. After a few seconds of hesitation, Fudge slowly raised his hand as well.

"2 against 1. You lucked out brother." said Fudge.

So, they are brothers then, or are they just calling each other brother but they are not of the same blood?

"Fine. Let's go get the bow." said Ghosted.

We make our way down the street from where I came from. Ghosted and Fudge is following silently behind me. When we get to the house, I push open the door and go inside. Everything seems exactly as I left it. I keep my axe close to me in case there are any surprises. I feel uncomfortable and shifty about the situation. I walk into the kitchen, then the living room and then head upstairs. I find the bow on the floor in the room where I found the pillows and blankets. I pick it up and head downstairs again. Ghosted and Fudge is on the porch looking at the area we are in. When I approach them, they head out into the street. I close the door behind them and go to them.

"I uh never thanked you guys for saving my bacon." I said

"It's all good." Fudge said.

"I told you we weren't the bad guys." Ghosted said.

"We don't blame you for your scepticism though." Fudge said.

"So, when we loot the houses, you will cover the rear. You close the doors behind us and make sure nothing catches us by surprise. I will cover the front and left flank and Fudge will cover the front and right flank. Any questions?" asked Ghosted.

"No. I get it. Watch your arses."

"Smart lady. If you keep learning this quickly, we might be able to use you." said Ghosted with a smirk.

We walk down the street to what looks to be like a supermarket. It's rather big and dark.

"Right so here we go. We grab what we can that looks edible or useable. You follow as I already told you. When we are too full to move, you will carry what we give you in your bag. Once we get to camp, we will kit you with a proper duffel bag. Keep in mind what is yours. You can keep that." said Ghosted.

"Okay." I reply.

We walk all the way to the doorway of the super market and stand still. I keep the back covered and glance over my shoulder often to see when they are moving forward. I hear the familiar swift movement of the wind again and by the next sound, I know the arrow has found its target. A thud can be heard. I hear them step forward and I pace behind them slowly. In the right corner at the back I see a walker. I take an arrow and aim my bow and arrow at the walker. I draw back the wire and let go. A brief whooshing sound and the arrow finds its target. The walker groans alive and I grab another arrow. I aim again and draw the wire back. Whoosh and the arrow hits again. The walker is stumbling off balance but doesn't lose its destination. I grab another arrow and aim again. This time the arrow hits the walker right in the eye and it drops to the floor with a thud.

"Good." whispers Fudge.

The dance of arrows and walkers continues until the supermarket is strewn with the dead. The smell is horrible. I try hard not to wretch. Firstly, I don't want to lose what little food I have in my stomach and secondly, I don't want the guys to perceive me as weak.

"I can hear your stomach flipping. If you barf, go to a corner or a trash can. I don't want to step into it." said Ghosted.

"I am fine." I lied.

"Yeah right. Tell that to someone who will believe you." said Ghosted as we started walking between the shelves.

"Let me give you a tip. Firstly, I was watching you waste arrows on more than 1 walker. Always aim for the head. That is the only way to kill them. If you have a weak stomach, get yourself a scarf or something to cover your nose and mouth until you get used to the smell." said Fudge whilst inspecting items on the shelf that he stuffs into his bag.

"Tiger turn around. You earned a snack." Ghosted said with his hand towards me.

I turn around and take the bar of candy from him. It's a cereal bar with berries in it. I used to love these things growing up. I thank Ghosted and continue to guard the back. I don't know how long we spent in the supermarket, but we only covered about 40% of it and our bags are full. There is literally no more space. I feel like I am carrying a mountain and I struggle a little to breathe. I am horribly unfit if I struggle this much, I think to myself. We make our way to the exit again, trying not to step on the dead. On our way out we don't find any more walkers, but we are far from done here. We can bring back so much stuff. Maybe we should grab a trolley and fill it up.

"Guys. Why don't we grab a trolley each and fill it up as well? This way we can take more stuff?" I asked.

"Because the noise of the trolley will attract walkers." answered Ghosted.

"True if we take them just as is. If we head in to the hardware section, we find something to oil the wheels with so that the wheels won't make a noise. We keep on the grass and sand on the outside and no noise will be drawn to us." I said.

"That's not the worst idea Ghosted. We can get more done sooner. Just imagine how happy John would be with the loot. The stockers would also have some relief." said Fudge.

"You are a smart cookie, aren't you?" asked Ghosted.

I smile at Ghosted not being sure if he is being sarcastic or sincere. We turn around and head back into the supermarket looking for the hardware section. On the expedition to search for the oil for the wheels we find a handful of walkers along the way which Fudge and Ghosted takes down as soon as they awaken from their deadly sleep. When we finally reach the shelves, we grab what we are looking for and head back to the front of the store for the trolleys. Each of us finds a trolley in great condition and start oiling it. At least the trolleys are not made of metal so the noise will be a lot less than I thought. We make our way through the store, grabbing anything we can use. Once the trolleys were stocked, we looted almost the whole store.

"Looks like we got most of it." Fudge said.

"Actually, I think this is not the end of it." I said.

"Why do you think that?" asked Fudge.

"I used to work in retail and know for a fact that somewhere here has to be a store room where they put the stock that hasn't gotten to the shelves yet. There is always extra reserves in the back which is used to restock the shelves every day."

"A walking Wikipedia. John will like you." Ghosted remarked.

"I don't see you coming up with good ideas so maybe drop your attitude towards me?" I reply.

"Chill dude. When I am sarcastic, I don't mean it in a nasty way. I don't have an attitude."

"I am chilled. You just seem to be bitchy which makes our very first encounter seems like you were faking it because you wanted someone to do scut for you."

"I was sincere. It's not my problem that you are a sensitive snowflake."

"I am not sensitive. I just don't like the crap that you throw my way."

"Chill out the both of you. We have got to start making our way back before it is dark. Tiger, Ghosted is just being Ghosted. His sarcasm is as part of him as the bones in his body. You will get used to it. Just ignore him. Ghosted, you are being sarcastic and pissy and she is our new fledgling. Do you want to scare her off and lose the power you wanted? Play nice. We still need to get her through orientation and medicals. You will have more than enough time to be sarcastic to the lady." said Fudge.

The rest of the way out was spent in silence. We didn't speak. Each of us focused on pushing our load out and trying not to draw attention to us. Outside we head straight for the grass, only to realize the grass covers the noise, but slows us down even more. We have to push harder than normal to get the trolley to move as fast as we need to. After an hour of walking I sit on the grass whilst Fudge relieves himself in a bush and Ghosted keeps watch.

"How long still till we reach camp?" I ask.

"About 40 minutes' walk east still. We are almost there." replied Ghosted.

I get up from the ground when Fudge returns and we make our way east, pushing our load the rest of the way. When I look up after about 20 minutes' walk, I can see the walls of a camp come into view. It isn't high, but it is high enough to keep out people and walkers. The entire camp is about 2km in length. I can't see how big it on the inside is, but from what I can see it isn't a small camp. We reach a custom-built draw bridge. The walls around it made from concrete and as far as you can see the walls are concrete, lined with barbed wire and metal spikes. On the walls you can see people walking up and down. Some has bows. Some has guns. At the entrance is 2 guards with what looks to be sniper rifles. A deep trench has been dug in front of the spikes and I can see traps and what seems to be land mines. We stop and Ghosted takes 2 steps forward.

"Oi, let us in. We bring fresh supplies. Ghosted and Fudge has returned from duty and also brings a fledgling." Ghosted shouts.

"Why are you bringing us more mouths to feed? You know we are understocked." shouts the soldier from the tower back.

"I brought us fresh blood because we need the power! You know as well as I do that, we need people to stock and besides, the lady helped us bring much more supplies than we bargained for."

"Is that so? Where are these so-called supplies?"

"Are you blind? Has staring down a gun barrel all day rotten your brain so much you can't see 3 overstocked trollies?"

"Is that what they are? They looked like mounds of garbage."

"Piss off you bullet licker. It's food and other stuff. On top of that we have 2 full duffel bags and a full backpack."

The soldier laughs at his remarks and signals someone to lower the draw bridge. When the bridge lowered to the ground, we make our way through to the other side. The second we step off the bridge, it gets closed behind us again. I look around and I see so much activity. There are people operating the draw bridge. Children playing and sitting at desks looking to be doing homework of some sorts. I see people walking around, some carrying things, some of them looks like they are coming from some unknown location. I see clothes hanging outside drying and women washing clothes in a bucket. I see what looks to be farmed land where crops are growing. Mushrooms, Corn, berry bushes, yellow flowers, red flowers, Aloe Vera plants and some weird sort of cactus tree. I see Gazebos set up with people that seems to be handing out requested items to people. It looks like they are handing out rations. In front of us is a large building which looks like a factory or used to be a factory rather. Ghosted winks at me to follow him and the 3 of us go to the Gazebos where the people are handing out things. Almost like a flea market.

"Jenny! We brought you a small present!" Ghosted shouts.

"Coming in a minute." a women's voice comes from nowhere.

Out of a garage comes a middle-aged woman with bright coloured clothes. She is tall and a bit frisky. She has trainers on and for some unknown reason, is wearing lipstick. Her hair is tied back in a bun and she is wearing a golden necklace with a cross pendant at the end of it. Her clothes are sweat stained and dirty, but somehow manages to still be bright. She has long nails that looks like she can scratch holes into you. Her smile is bright and friendly. She walks up to Ghosted and gives him a quick hug. Ghosted doesn't return the gesture. He just stands there and waits for her to let go before speaking again.

"Right so I brought you some supplies to stock the closet with. We shall be bringing more tomorrow, but this should keep us running for a day or so." he said with a wide grin.

She looks over to the trolleys and then squeals in excitement. Her squeal makes me cringe and take 2 steps back.

"Oh goodness how happy am I to see this. Let me see what you have brought me."

Jenny walks over to the first trolley that Ghosted has and gives it a brief glance to see what is there. She motions for Ghosted to follow her into the garage. After about 10 minutes they return and Ghosted tells me to follow him and Fudge takes my bag.

"Don't worry I will only take out what is ours. I remembered your stock." said Fudge.

I nod and follow Ghosted. Ghosted takes me into the main building. The entrance seems to be a massive sleeping quarter. Dozens of cots have been placed here. Most of them has been cornered off with sheets, separating one from another. They seem to be makeshift rooms. Some bigger than others. I can see that there are lockers as well. It seems to be 4 lockers per person. 2 at the top. 2 at the bottom. Some has more.

"Ghosted. Why are some of these rooms bigger than the other or have more lockers?" I ask.

"Because those are the families. Believe it or not, some families have made it together alive. Other families have been split up in this mess. All children are placed with adults as well, even if it's not the kid's parents. They must make do with foster parents."

"Makes sense. Are there many children with such situations?"

"In my personal opinion yes. It seems like parents has sacrificed themselves for their children. Noble cause, but they didn't stop to think if there will be someone alive out there that is willing to take the kid in."

"I get what you mean."

We walk all the way to the other side and go into another part that is significantly smaller, but also houses a few people. Most of them seems to be sick or injured so I assume this might be a sort of a hospital for the people. Drips are hanging on coat hangers or actual hospital drip hangers. Against the walls are cupboards with windows in them where you can see the sort of supplies inside of them. The place smells like rubbing alcohol. We walk between the people until we reach a small office with a bed in it. A guy is sitting at the desk dressed in scrubs working his way through some papers. Ghosted knocks on the door.

"Hey doc. I brought in a fledge. Can you look her over so we can get her through to the next round?"

"I am a bit busy at the moment. Can it wait? I must amputate a leg otherwise the gangrene might spread." the doctor asks.

"It won't take long doc. Look at her. She doesn't have much to examine." Ghosted said pointing at me.

"I can wait." I said whilst glaring at Ghosted.

"You do realize you will be sitting for hours in an isolated room with absolutely nothing in it until she is finished right?" asked Ghosted

"Can I have a book to read?"

"I guess."

"Then I will wait."

"Good that is settled. Isolation room take her to the library to get a book and then I shall see you later." said the doctor.

"Whatever. Your funeral." said Ghosted.

We walk to a staircase and walk up 6 flights of stairs. By the last step I am so out of breath that I pant all the way. Ghosted seems to not be affected as much. I see drops of sweat on his forehead and his chest is rising and falling a bit faster than normal. Ghosted opens the door and walks into a room about half the size as the hospital ward. Against all the walls is bookshelves loaded with books.

"Pick whatever you like, but don't take years."

I walk towards the shelves and read the labels. Fiction. Romance, comedy, fantasy, horror, drama, detective, etc. I stop by the detective novels and see what title grabs my attention. Eventually I pick 2 books of the shelves and walk back to Ghosted.

"About time. I was falling asleep here. Come on let's lock you up."

"Why do I have to be isolated though?"

"To check for any infectious diseases or bite and scratch marks from walkers. We do not want you to turn and kill people."

"How long does isolation last?"

"Until the doctor clears you for duty."

"How long is that?"

"Depends. If she finds something, you have to wait till it is out of your system. If you are scratched or bitten, we see if we can cut it off if it hasn't spread yet. If it's small and you are lucky, we stuff you full of anti-biotics and you are good to go within 2 weeks. If you are clean, then the next day you will be let go and go on to the next round where you will be orientated. If you are completely infected and there is no hope for you, we take you out on a sunny walk and clip you in the field."

"Clip me in the field?"

"I shoot you in the head."

"Oh..."

"Don't worry. By the looks of it, you aren't there in that sort of danger."

We walk in silence back to the staircase and go all the way to where we came from. We walk past the doctor's office to an area that looks like a prison. Inside is a bed, a toilet, a sink, toilet paper and folded blankets and pillows. It seems like this area is completely empty which means this will be a rather lonely night. Ghosted keeps walking and stops at random at a cell.

"Take this one here. It hasn't been used in a long time which means the mattress is softer than the other ones. This is your reward for helping." he said with a smile.

"Thanks." I said walking into the cell.

"Fudge will be here soon with your bag of stuff that you can keep. We have got to unload the load that we brought with us. Sweet dreams princess." Ghosted said locking the cell and walking off into the distance.

I look around in my small confined space. There isn't much to do. I can't see into the other cells. I start to unfold the blankets and make the bed. Once the bed has been made, I plomp down onto it with my book and get lost in the fiction world. Minutes seem to have turned into an hour or 2 because suddenly I jump up with a yelp when someone knocks with a pipe against my cell door. I look up startled and see that it is Fudge accompanied by someone I don't know.

"You scared the living shit out of me Fudge. What do you want to do? Kill me before I turn old and grey?" I asked quite upset about the jump scare.

"Girl, you need to chill just a little. We ain't doing you no harm. We just made sure you ain't dosing off and turning bat shit crazy on us. You ain't bit are ya?" said the guy.

"Sorry about that. I thought you might appreciate your backpack with some supplies. I added some food and water for the night. Inside is a pair of pants that should fit you better than those clingy pants. I also have some socks and if you tell me your shoe size, I can see to get you a pair of shoes." said Fudge.

"Thanks. My shoe size is 8. I am not crazy or going to turn either. I haven't been bitten and I am quite sane thank you very much." I said answering both guys in the same breath.

"What they all say. Bitches be crazy." said the guy.

"Brad don't call her that. A little more respect and a little less swearing would be nice." said Fudge.

"Whatever man." answered Brad and rolls his eyes.

I walk to the door of the cell and Brad unlocks the door. Fudge gives me my bag and I take it and sit down on my bed with the bag.

"Thanks. I appreciate what you are doing for me." I said opening the zip of the bag.

All the contents are still in the bag except the broken arrows. All arrows have been taken out of the bag. I take out a bottle of water and start drinking. I finish the water in one breath, only realizing then that I haven't drank anything for most of the day and I am thirsty. There are about 4 more bottles of water in the bag and I drink half of another bottle. Fudge and Brad has left already, locking the door behind them once again. Inside the bag I also find a sandwich and 2 bananas. The can of food that was in there is still there too with the can opener. I take out the socks and pants. I change into the new black pants and they fit better but the problem is, this one is too big. I shall have to ask for a belt. I put on the socks to keep my feet nice and warm. I lay back onto the bed again and open the book to start reading again. Whilst I disappear into the fictional world again, I nourish my body with the sandwich. It is the best sandwich ever, but that's what it feels like if you have lived of scraps of food the previous day. On top of it I still don't know what happened to me, so I don't know when the last time was, I ate something before I was passed out. How long have I been out anyway? I don't have any way to tell. I can't remember a thing from the past. It is as if someone wiped the harddrive of my brain, leaving me with a blank emptiness. By the time I finish the book, it is pitch black and I can hardly make out what I am reading anymore. I have no idea what the time is, but what caught my attention was the sound of footsteps in the hall. I look up from the book and a dark shadow emerges out of nowhere. Soon the dark shadow turns into the doctor I met earlier. She is accompanied by 2 other men. She walks straight up to my cell and smiles at me.

"Hi there. Sorry that it has taken that long. We uhm ran into a small complication. I am Doctor Mc Comrick. I am the chief of general surgery. I will be doing your examination today. Don't worry about the men at my side. They are just a safety precaution, which is there for my and your safety. If you are not yet familiar with the rule, then I will explain it to you. All citizens of camp Alpha 17 are to be accompanied by 2 security guards when entering sensitive areas such as the supply rooms, the hospital, isolation chambers, the private offices and the scavengers vault." said Dr. Mc Comrick.

"Hi. I am IceTiger."

"Nice to meet you Miss or is it Mrs. IceTiger?"

"Miss."

"Ok Miss IceTiger. So for privacy the 2 men will be stationed at the door facing forward and with their backs toward us for privacy whilst I do the examination." she said and unlocks the door.

The doctor walks into the cell and the 2 men do as she described. Both men are tall and strong. Both have pistols in holsters. The doctor brings in a small bag with medical equipment and a writing pad. She sets down the bag and opens it. She takes out her stethoscope and looks at me expectantly.

"Can you please take off your jacket and shirt. I want to listen to your heart and lungs. Afterwards I will test your iron levels to see if it is normal. Once that is done, I will take your temperature and I will prick your arm with a needle and draw a small amount of blood. My reason for doing so is to look for any abnormalities underneath my microscope and also so that we have a base sample to compare with in the future if needed. I will then ask you to strip completely to examine your physical health. I need you to answer some questions for me as well." she said.

I take off my jacket and shirt and the doctor comes closer to me. She listens to my heart and lungs and make notes on her notepad. She pricks my finger and tests my iron level and scribble down some more notes. She ties a piece of rope to my upper arm and searches for a veign. She takes out an alcohol wipe and cleans the bend of my arm. Out of her bag comes a rather thick needle with a IV line. She finds a veign and sticks in the needle in it drawing 3 veils of blood. She takes out a syringe and fills it up with blood as well and lays it aside. In between she scribbles down more notes. Once she is done, she asks me to strip completely and looks through every inch. She questions every single scar and any mark that looks like it doesn't belong there. I also had to identify a dozen freckles.

"You may dress yourself again. I am relatively satisfied. Now it's just to test the blood, which I will do in a few minutes and get back to you immediately. So now I need some information from you." she said.

I start to dress, and she waits for me to finish. Once I am done, she sits on the toilet with her notepad on her lap.

"Age?"

"22"

"Blood tipe?"

"O+"

"Good. We need those. Any recent surgeries?"

"I don't remember."

She writes down a few lines with a furrowed brow.

"Do you know your weight and height?"

"I don't know my weight, but I am about 1.6 meters tall."

"No worries, I can weigh you in my office. Any medical conditions I should be aware off?"

"No."

"Have you had any form of trauma recently?"

"I fell pretty hard and it knocked the wind out of me, but otherwise no."

"Why did you fall?"

"I was tripped by a walker."

"Did it cause any of the wounds on your body that has been identified?"

"I am not sure. I don't think so no. The scabby knee was where I tripped and fell. I don't think it had a chance to hurt me."

"I have seen 2 scratch marks that I am concerned about. I would like to examine them."

"Okay. Go ahead."

She takes out 2 cotton swabs and swabs both scratch marks on my arm.

"Right so in general I am happy with what I see. I will quickly go examine these samples, then I will return with the verdict of what is to happen. I would like you to accompany me to my office so I can weigh you and you can just stay with me so I can give you your results. Have you taken any fluids today and eaten?"

"Yes I have."

"Well you look a little dehydrated so I would suggest you drink more fluids."

"Okay."

She gets up and packs up all her equipment. She closes the notepad and puts it in the bag as well. The doctor walks to the door and motions for me to follow her. She walks ahead of us and the 2 guys follow me behind her. I feel uncomfortable, but I don't make my anxiety clear. It's just protocol after all. Once we are in her office I get onto the scale and she notes my weight. She motions for me to sit down whilst she examines the samples, she took from me. After what seems to be forever, she looks up and writes down some more notes. The doctor gets up from the examination table and sits behind her desk looking at me with the notepad on her desk.

"Ok so a couple of questions more. Have you been sick recently?"

"No."

"Vomited?"

"No."

"Any fever?"

"No."

"How long have you been here?"

"In this place or do you mean like in general?"

"In general, please."

"This will be day 2."

"Do you remember anything from before these 2 days?"

"No. Is that normal?"

"It's fine. Some remember. Some don't."

"Why?"

"Don't worry about that now. Let's just finish here first. Any pain?"

"Yes. My knee hurts a little where I fell."  
"That is to be expected. Have you been sexually active in the last 2 days?"

"No. Where would I find the time? I am trying to survive."

"Are you feeling healthy and well in general?"

"Yeah I guess."

"Are you uncertain?"

"A little. I mean I wake up in the middle of nowhere with no explanation. I was naked. The world has gone to hell. I have been attacked by walkers. I have killed for the first time ever. I guess I can be as good as expected under circumstances."

"Look, it can be a little confusing and traumatic at first, but there is nothing to worry about. You will get used to it. Just give it a chance. So, looking at the overall results, I am happy with what I see. As I said I would recommend you take in some more fluids to be sure that you don't dehydrate. Furthermore, you seem healthy in overall aspects and I found nothing that concerns me. I would however like to keep you for overnight observation and measure your temperature through the night. I will also start you on a broad spectrum anti-biotic drip just to make 100% sure you have no underlying infections or diseases. It won't take that long and if all goes well, we can set you up in camp. Do you have any questions or concerns?"

"Not really no."

"Okay medically I am inclined to tell you what side effects the drip might have. You might experience the following symptoms: Nausea, headache, constipation, mood changes, rash, irregular heartbeats, asthma attack and lastly allergic reaction to the medication."

"Sounds extreme. Do I have a choice?"

"Yes, but if you refuse treatment then you will not be able to stay on as you are a risk for the community. The side effects are usually minimal, and some effects are in the worst-case scenario. You might experience nothing. You might experience something. Every patient is different. I also need you to sign a document giving me permission to share your results with the camp leader and his assistants. It will only be them and me that has access to the files. It is so I can give you a clean bill of health so you can go through orientation. Afterwards you will be teamed up with a mentor and you will be taught the ways of survival. Your skills will be tested, and a role will be assigned to you. You only get pardoned from your duties if you are severely injured, disabled or ill. You will only be pardoned if you get a medical certificate from me that states, I deem you unfit for work. If you are for example injured, you will be excused from physical duties, but that might not excuse you from administrative duties. Administrative duties include keeping stock count, helping me do filing, briefing the scouts on needed supplies, writing out memos to the camp members, etc. So be warned, it isn't just laid back here."

"Jeez. It doesn't sound like I get to rest."

"You do. Everyone here works in shifts of 6 hours. You also get 1-hour lunch. You are then free until your next shift starts. You can sign up or volunteer for other duties in your off time and you will be rewarded and compensated for your time. Make sure to rest though."

"Okay."

"So that concludes my part of the briefing. Please sign the document." she says handing me a piece of paper.

I read it and sign at the bottom. I hand her the permission slip back and she gets up from her desk. Doctor Mc Comrick walks over to one of the supply closets filled up with drips and takes one out. She walks to the door and motions for me to follow. We walk back in silence to the cell that is mine and opens the door. The 2 guards station themselves at my door again and the doctor sets me up and get me ready for the drip. Once she hooked me up to the drip I lay back on my bed. The doctor walks out again and locks the door. I lay there and stare at the drip. Waiting for it to finish. Tiredness overwhelms me, but I fight to stay awake. In about 2 hours the doctor returns and takes off the drip. She measures my temperature again and walks to the door but turns around and faces me.

"Okay so we are done for the night. I recommend you to sleep now. We will be back in the morning and if all goes well then you will be free to roam around."

She doesn't give me a chance to reply and she closes the door behind her. The lock clicks into place and I am left with silence in the dark. I take my backpack out from under the bed and open it again. I find the half full bottle of water and empty it. I get up to relieve myself and then climb in bed underneath the blankets. I toss and turn for quite a while until I drift off into an uneasy sleep. My soul takes a breath.


	2. Chapter 2

Day 3:

I wake up quite early. I still have no idea what time it is, but I can see from the small barred window that it is sunrise. It takes me a few minutes to remember what has happened in the past 24 hours and where I am right now. As the reality sinks in, I sit up in my bed. I look around and listen if I can hear any noise. It sounds quiet in general. I hear voices in the distance, but I can't make out what they are saying. I hear birds singing their song and the sound of my breath. I have the urgent need to pee, so I get up to relieve myself. I flush the toilet and sit back down on the bed. I wonder when they will release me. What awaits me in this new day? I lay back down and close my eyes. I hope I can fall asleep again until someone wakes me up, but deep down I know I will not be able to fall asleep again. It has always been my curse that as soon as I wake up, it is nearly impossible to fall asleep again. I turn on my side and search for the book on the floor that I was reading the previous evening. My fingers find its goal and I pick up the book. It's light enough to read so I can get rid of reality.

After about an hour I hear heavy footsteps coming this way. It sounds like someone who is wearing army boots. I put my book down and sit up in my bed again. A man appears at the cell door and looks at me.

"Hi. I am John. I run this camp. The doctor told me you are good to go so I am here to get you set up. I prefer to know everyone in the camp, hence my visit. You are not to interrupt me whilst I speak. You will refrain from asking questions. There are other people here that can answer them. Know that I will not take any shit from anybody. Give me trouble and I will make your life hell. Work with me and you will be welcomed into paradise. Breakfast is strictly at 7 am every morning. Miss it and you will not get any. Lunch is at 2pm and dinner is at 6pm. You will be given a watch, so you have no excuse as to why you are late. There will be signals as well and alarms in the morning to wake you up. Duty starts at 08:30. You will be handed a schedule later in the week to which you will strictly adhere to. If you are late, you get penalised. If you don't show up and you have no valid excuse, you will be penalised. If you break any rules, you will be penalised. You will be handed a list of rules from your mentor. I will assign you to a mentor and until you have been kitted, you will work your mentors schedule with him or her. I oversee most of the training so I will know if you are there or not. There are certain mandatory training and others are voluntary. It will be marked on your schedule, when it is mandatory. A general schedule you will find anywhere where you are allowed to volunteer for any extra activities in your free time. It will tell you exactly where it is and what time it starts. Did I make myself clear?"

"Yes." I answer with confusion and uncertainty.

"You don't sound sure. Am I clear?"

"Yes. I understand."

"Good." John said and unlocks the door.

I get up from the bed, uncertain exactly what I am supposed to do now.

"Follow me. Take your stuff. I will show you to your mentor."

I gather all my things and stuff it into my bag. I walk out the door and almost have to jog to keep up with John. John is a tall man with short shaved hair. He is wearing an army uniform with combat boots. He has a clipboard stuffed under his arms and keys are jingling from his neck. He looks fit and strong. I can almost see the muscles bursting out of the uniform. We walk through the hospital and go all the way to the exit of the building. John turns left and walks over to where what looks to me like the entire camp is sitting and eating breakfast. John walks up to Fudge and Ghosted who is happily chatting away with other members of the camp.

"Fudge. Front and centre." commands John.

Fudge jumps up from where he sits and stands at full attention in front of John.

"Good morning. I have a new assignment for you. Since you and Ghosted brought in a new recruit, you will train her. She will follow your schedule. Make sure she is kitted and unclarities resolved. Her new room is block b07. The paperwork is there. Make sure that all the papers have been read through and understood. Finish breakfast and then it will begin." said John.

"Yes sir."

I stand there uncomfortably and wait for something to happen. John walks to the head of the table and sits down. He pours himself a coffee and a lady comes by and brings him a plate of breakfast. Fudge turns to me.

"Ok so breakfast is in front. The line starts where the people ends. Grab yourself something to eat and come join me. I will brief you during breakfast."

"Okay."

I turn and walk all the way to where the line starts. The line moves quickly and orderly. It almost feels like a military camp. At least it is organized and efficient. When it is my turn, I take a bowl from the table and walk up to the first person who looks like she has food ready. She fills my bowl with oat meal and hands it back to me.

"Milk is further down as well as the sugar. NEXT!"

I walk towards the direction she pointed and add some sugar to my porridge. Afterwards I head back to where Fudge is sitting with a group of people. I choose a seat across Fudge and listen to the ongoing conversation.

"Bruh there is no way that you can bring back all that loot alone." said the guy to my left.

"I did. We stocked the cupboards and today we are going to stock them some more." answered Ghosted.

"We did have some help from the new fledge though." said Fudge.

"Yeah lady Wikipedia." laughed Ghosted.

"Who the fuck is that?" said the guy next to Ghosted.

"The one sitting over there." Ghosted said pointing at me.

"What the actual fuck man? You let a girl run your organization?" asked the guy.

"She didn't run it. She just had a good idea Jackson." replied Ghosted.

"Wikipedia girl. Is it true? Have you got bigger balls than Ghosted here?" asked Jackson looking at me.

I nearly swallow my spoon of oatmeal whole when all the attention was on me.

"I wouldn't say I have bigger balls. I just have a bigger brain." I replied.

There was an awkward silence as everyone looked between me and Ghosted. The guy next to me started to giggle a bit and then Fudge joined the giggle. Jackson looked between us for a few seconds and burst out laughing out loud. The guys all started laughing one by one except Ghosted. He just sat there eating his toast. The guy next to me starts laughing out loud and suddenly slapped me on the back so hard, he nearly rearranged all my organs. I cough in protest but couldn't help at smiling. The laughter died down after a about 5 minutes and we continued eating.

"So, guys this is the lady IceTiger." said Fudge pointing at me again.

A chorus of HI's is met with his introduction.

"The guy to my left is Jackson. To my right is Robby. Next to you on your left side is Leo. To your right is Cronic. On Ghosted's left side is Heinrich. Pretty simple. Nurse, goat, a mess, Welsch and German." said Fudge.

"Nice to meet you all." I replied between an mouthful of porridge.

"So all of here is scouts. You should be a good scout. You made a good impression on Jenny. At the very far end of the table is the SWAT team. All of them are on the walls, standing guard. All around us is jacks of all trades. Farmers, kitchen staff, cleaners, mothers, fathers, sowers, librarians, administrators, a doctor, a nurse, mechanics, miners, wood workers, builders, you get the concept. First on the agenda is to get you settled in your room and then we have mandatory training. I have to test every skill you have to see where you fit in best and then we have to go out and finish the supermarket and the rest of the town. It's the 3 of us again so we will work on the same concept we did yesterday. Is this fine with you?" asked Fudge.

"Yes."

"Good. Finish up so we can get a move on. Breakfast is almost over."

The rest of the breakfast I spend in silence, listening to the men chattering. Hopefully I can learn some things, only listening. I have no luck though because I don't understand half of what the guys are talking about. I give up and finish the last of my breakfast. I excuse myself from the table and stand behind a load of people who are washing their plates, cups and bowls. When it is my turn I clean my bowl and dry it off. I stack it on top of the rest of bowls and walk back to the table. Fudge sees me walking back and gets up from his chair. He waits until I am by him and motions for me to follow. We walk back into the sleeping quarters where we walk right to the end if it. We stop at a corner at the far back.

"This is your room. You got a nice one because you have 2 walls and a curtain. You might have a little more privacy than the rest of us, but you get to hear the bathroom door open and close every time someone needs to go. You can personalize it to your liking. Make it your own. This is your room and your home. Keep it clean. Keep it organized. It might be that you end up getting a child to look after because there is space for another cot. We have a strict no stealing policy. We have guards walking in between and have memorised where people sleep. If you are found stealing, you will be locked up in isolation rooms and be subjected to hard bone tiring labour. Trust me. It is hell. If someone steals from you and you notice it, you must report it to the guards at once and we will investigate. We always find the guilty party. On the bed is the rule sheet. Study it and know the rules by heart. I will quiz you on them often. If you fail to know the rules within a week, I will give you scut work to do. As you can see things are strict and organized here. Don't worry about it too much, you will get the rhythm and it will look better in a week or so. Do you have any questions?"

"Not really no. Seems like everyone here is chatty. So much information has come my way and I have barely remembered half of it."

"It's all good. You will get to all of that. I will teach you. So, I need you to get ready for your training in 10 minutes. The watch is underneath the stack of papers. Don't be late please."

"Where do I find you? I don't know where everything is."

"Don't worry about it. Just meet me at the entrance. I will wait for you there."

"How am I supposed to prepare though?"

"In whatever way you like. Pray. Meditate. Sit there and wait out the time. Go to the bathroom if you need to. It's your choice."

"Before you go, do you think you can organize me a belt? The pants you got me are too big."

"Sure. I'll give them with your shoes."

Fudge turns on his heels and walks towards the entrance. I put my bag down and move the stack of papers aside so I can put on the watch. The watch is a simple watch. Leather strap. Stainless steel. The watch is already counting away the seconds. I put it on and start unpacking my bag. I open the locker and put in the food and water. I keep one bottle aside for when I am in training. I don't actually have clothes so there is no point in organizing that. Hopefully they will give me some more clothes. At least a change of clean underwear. I must remember to ask Fudge. I look at the watch and I have 5 minutes left. I close the locker and walk to the entrance.

"Right on time. I like it." says Fudge with a smile.

"Fudge. Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"I don't actually have clothes to put on. Can you organize me some more clothes please?"

"We don't keep clothes here all that much. If you want clothes you usually go out with a looter or a scout and take what you find on the way. Lucky for you, we are going back to the supermarket and you can get yourself clothes. Here is your belt and shoes. Try them on and see if they fit." says Fudge handing me the shoes and belt.

I put on the black belt and sit down on the ground to try the shoes on. It is black trainers. I get back up and dust off the back of my pants. Fudge smiles at me tells me to follow him. We walk all the way to where we came from. Jenny is waiting for us at the cook's spot. When we reach her, she smiles warmly and looks at me.

"Jenny, this is IceTiger. We will be doing the first part of the test with you today. I want to see her administrative skills. Can she do the stock count?" asked Fudge.

"Hi IceTiger. It is so nice to meet you. I saw you yesterday, but I didn't have time to get to know you. Things are super crazy at the warehouse at the end of the day."

"It's okay. I understand."

"Super! Take the clipboard and come with me into the garage where we store everything please."

I take the clipboard and enter the garage. The door closes behind us and I stare in awe of the size of the place. It rather stuffy inside, but I ignore it. Jenny walks to the first shelf and looks at me. I become aware of the anxiety I feel in here. Fudge is standing behind me, watching my every move.

"Righty then. What I want you to do for me is to count the stock on the shelves and see if they match the amount written on the clip board. If it doesn't match, write how much you counted. You will see that each shelve has its own number and sub division. It corresponds with what is written on your clipboard. Any questions?"

"Yes. Do I have to do the whole garage?"

"No, you don't. I will tell you when you are done. You may begin."

I begin the count of the first shelve. There isn't much too it and most of the numbers corresponds which I am assuming is a good thing. This is absolutely boring, and I am not really enjoying myself all that much, but the sooner I get it done, the better. I wonder if I mess this up on purpose, will they know? Will I be excluded from admin duty? There is always a chance they put me onto something worse like scrubbing toilets. Maybe if I do well, they might decide that they need me somewhere else. It frustrates me that I don't know how this is judged.

Once I finished the first shelf, Jenny comes over to look at the report and shows it to Fudge. They both retreat far away from me and whisper something about the clipboard. I am getting paranoid and uneasy until they look up and Fudge addresses me.

"Good job. You did well here. We can go to the next thing."

Fudge opens the door and I walk out. Jenny flashes a bright smile at me and gives me a thumbs up. I exit the garage and follow Fudge to where the crops are. We stop at freshly growing mushrooms.

"So now I want to see if you will kill us with food or if we might survive under your judgement. Have a look at the plants growing in front of us and tell me what you see." Fudge says looking expectantly at me.

"Okay. Uhm. I see mushrooms, corn, some plant with white flowers, red flowers, yellow flowers and berry bushes."

"Good. Can you tell me what the flowers are?"

"I don't know. I am thinking they might be safe to eat?"

"To eat I wouldn't recommend. Except maybe for what the white flowers represent. The white flowers are potatoes, the red flowers are chrysanthemum blossoms and lastly the yellow is golden rod flowers. Can you tell me what we are able to make out of this?"

"Food?"

"Very good. What sort of food?"

"Vegetable stew. Maybe a vegetable soup? Potatoes can be roast potatoes, chips or mashed potatoes. If you throw some meat into the mix, then you will have one really healthy barbeque. Some steak and chips maybe? Corn bread provided we have flour as well. I don't know what to do with the flowers. A drink maybe? The berries you can use to make pie if we have the ingredients to make the dough with."

"You think luxury, but I like it. The stew and the soup are a fantastic idea which we have already implemented. Our people tend to be rather healthy and that is why nobody is overweight. There is however no way we can make steak and chips for everyone. Nice try, but we don't have enough meat. We can make a meat stew which is just a vegetable stew with a little meat in it. We do make the bread and the pie as well. You also were spot on with the flowers. We make tea out of it."

"Is there any more stuff you use for food?"

"Yes. There are canned foods which gets rationed for everyone. We have hops to make beer. We have coffee beans to make fresh coffee. We have chickens that provides us with eggs. We have cows that provides milk and for the rest, we hunt meat. Now that the world has ended, we find a lot more animals roaming."

"Makes sense to me. It's a good system."

"It is. So, what would you do to keep the system flowing?"

"I wouldn't change anything. If the system works, then the system works. I wouldn't try to fix something that isn't broken."

"Are you sure about this?"

"I guess so yes. Why?"

"I don't know, I am asking you. This is your examination."

"I guess you can try and find a plantation and try and get a bigger variety of vegetables. Maybe you can find some fertiliser too and add that into the mix."

"Good. There is a problem though. Do you know what the issue might be?"

"There isn't a plantation?"

"No. Try again."

"There isn't stock of this in the plantation?"

"No. Try again."

"There are too many walkers in the plantation?"

"No. One last try."

"We don't have the equipment to deal with a bigger farm?"

"Yes, that is true, but it is not the answer I am looking for."  
"Then I really don't know what the problem could be."

"Our problem is that there are no true farmers here. We lack the knowledge to have an actual farm. Here on the ground and on the roof is all that we can handle. The current farmers learned by trial and error. When camp Alpha 09 was established, we had it much worse. There was a big lack of food then. We still have camp Alpha 09 – 17. Each camp has its own farm and we produce just enough food to not starve."

"If don't have enough output, then the camp needs to get bigger. I came to the camp and it doesn't seem like you are scared to recruit more. Will my presence not impact the food ratio?"

"I like the way you think. You do impact the rations, but in a positive aspect. The load we brought in yesterday was more than any looter has brought in, in a long time. You just earned your keep by feeding half the families here with 1 haul. We are hoping to add to that."

"Well if you think clearly about the matter then bringing in 2 more people with our run later today would do more. If I am right about the stock in storage, we will hit the gold mine and be stocked very well. If possible, we should get a pickup truck and load it out."

"That has been the discussion last night when you were gone. I spoke to John and proposed this to him and after a long debate we are waiting on a final choice. If John says yes, then that is exactly what we are going to do."

"Why is it a matter of debate?"

"Because petrol is scarce, and we don't want to waste it."

"I can find you petrol."

"How? Don't you think we would have gotten the answer already?"  
"Maybe. Maybe not. I know how to open the storage tanks at petrol stations where they store the petrol. If we can get a pipe there and a big barrel, we will have more petrol."

"I like the way you think, but we have already tapped that source. We have 2 mechanics that used to work at petrol stations and already tapped it dry for us."

"oh. Then I have nothing to contribute."

"Don't worry about it. You think on your feet. We need more people like you. You will be useful on and off grounds."

"Thanks. I would like to be useful."

"How would you go about keeping the grounds weed free?"

"I would say wait till it grows out so you can see the difference between plant and weed and then you pluck it out."

"How would you get rid of pests?"

"If you have some pesticide, then I would spray that."

"If we don't have pesticide?"

"Then we are screwed and have to hope for the best."

"How often would you water the crops?"

"Once a day."

"When during the day?"

"Early morning."

"Wouldn't it be better to leave it till late afternoon?"

"I think then you might be too late."

"Right I am satisfied here. You are no farmer. You lack a lot of knowledge and some basic planting skills aren't even instilled in you. You water plants late afternoon otherwise the mid-day sun will dry out the ground and the crops wouldn't have the chance to be properly nourished. You can't just randomly pluck out weed, you must unroot it completely otherwise it will keep coming back. You will produce poor crops, but not kill us just yet."

"Good to know."

"It is. You will not be taken anywhere near the food unless you are on kitchen duty."

"Not the worst idea you have had."

Fudge turns to the right and walks down the length of the crop field. I follow him and we walk all the way to the end where Fudge stops and unlocks a door. He opens the door and motions for me to go inside. Inside the room it is dimly lit. On the tables is a whole arsenal of weapons. Bows, pistols, snipers, ammunition, rifles, shotguns and machetes. Fudge closes the door behind me and waits for me to stop gawking at everything. At the far end of the room is targets to shoot at. Fudge takes a bow and a few arrows and hands it to me.

"Righty. Weapons training. If you can get a headshot on every target, you graduate to a next level. You start with a bow."

I take the bow and arrow and walk up to a poorly drawn line on the ground. I aim my bow at the target and let go. Whoosh goes the arrow and hits the target with a thud. Neck shot. I pick another arrow and repeat the process. The second arrow hits above the target by a finger length. I pick up another arrow and try again. This time I hit the ear. I try again and this time I hit the target properly.

"Good. You can almost shoot properly. With a bit of practise, you will be able to graduate to a next weapon. For now, you stick with a bow and arrow."

I nod and say nothing.

"I want 3 more shots and then we are done here."

I do it 3 more times and I hit 1 bullseye, another neck shot and a shot in the jaw. I look over to Fudge and he just stands there without saying a word and observing my every move. I become conscious of myself and feel uncomfortable again. I never handled a weapon in my life before. I might have been good and computer games, but games and real life is different I think to myself. I frown and I am startled by the sudden thought. How do I know I was good at games? Is this a small memory from my past which is a blank? I must have frowned deeply because Fudge is staring at me with questioning eyes.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. I just had a random thought and I don't know where it came from."

"What sort of thought was it?"

"It was a thought about how I am good in computer games."

"That might just be an instinct thought about what happened before the world has gone to hell."

I walk to the table and put down the bow and arrows. When I turn around, I take a long look at Fudge. He has a rather organized feeling that makes the chaos feel less chaotic. I walk back to the door but stop. I turn to Fudge again.

"Are we done here?"

"Yes. Like I said, you are able to defend yourself. This here is the weapons locker and weapons training room. Before we go out, we will come here again to get you a bow and arrows. I would like to see you sign up for some more weapons training so that you can improve."

"Sure. I enjoyed it."  
"I have encountered walkers with more enthusiasm than that answer, but I'll accept it, nonetheless."

"Sorry. I am just a bit thrown of balance with the thought I had."

"All good. Embrace it. It will happen and it is good. Eventually you will remember it all."

Fudge walks towards the door and opens it. Both of us steps out into the warm sunlight outside. Fudge closes the door again and locks it.

"Right so we have established the simplest things. Now I am going to make you sweat. Follow me to the mine."

I follow fudge, waiting to see what he means by sweat. We walk all the way to the gates and Fudge signals for them to open the draw-bridge. We walk out and around the camp to the left side. The bridge closes behind us again and we are in the wilderness. We walk all the way to the end of the wall and go around the corner. I can see a man randomly standing around with a bow and arrow in his hand. In the distance I see another one. We walk past the guy and he nods in acknowledgement to us. We pass the second guy in silence and I can see in the distance there are more. We pass about 5 more men before we reach a place where there are pickaxes laying on the ground. About 10 paces away is the beginning of a hole in the ground.

"Pick up and axe. We are going underground. Watch your step. I don't want you to break your neck."

I pick up an axe and walk towards the hole. Around the hole is wooden frames and attached to the frames is a ladder. I hang the pick axe over my shoulder and start the descend into the darkness. Every odd few meters there is a torch that lights the way, but for the most part it is dark. Above me is Fudge. When I reach the bottom, I turn around and take the axe off my shoulder. Suddenly there is an explosion of light flickering. It takes me a few seconds to get used to the light. I am completely blinded and drop the axe. I reach out to the sides, but there is nothing to support me. I reach out in front of me to try and block the light and stumble into someone.

"HOLY SHIT!" I scream and back away and stumble against another body behind me.

I start swinging my arms violently, not knowing where to go. I feel like a trapped animal.

"Woah. It's okay. IceTiger. Calm down." Fudge says and reaches out to touch my shoulder.

"FUDGE HELP ME! I THINK I WALKED INTO A WALKER!" I scream grabbing Fudges arm.

"Ice it's okay. Stand still. It's not a walker. It's Joe!"

"WHO THE FUCK IS JOE?"

"It's one of our miners. Breathe."

Suddenly the light is gone, and I look around frantically. It still takes me a few minutes to get used to my environment, but I can make out the silhouette in front of me. I blink hard a few times, and everything starts to come into focus. My heart is hammering in my chest and I am breathing hard and shallow. Joe just stands there staring at me, waiting for me to stop freaking out. Fudge has his hand on my shoulder also waiting for me to calm down.

"She called me a walker." grunted Joe.

"Sorry. You scared me to death. I didn't mean to offend you sir." I reply apologetically.

"Sorry about that Joe. You snuck up to us unexpectedly." said Fudge.

"The same I could say for you. I thought a walker came down from the top." said Joe.

"No there are guards upstairs." said Fudge

"How am I supposed to know this? I am all the way down here. For all I know everyone could be dead up there."

"Okay. I get your point. Anyway, I am here with IceTiger for training and orientation. I thought we could put here skills to the test here. Do you have any work down here for us?"

"I always have work. We are mining for resources here. Lead, nitrate, iron and general stone."

"Okay. That sounds good to me. Can you please show here the samples and then put her to work?"  
"Come." Joe said and turns around.

I follow Joe to wheelbarrows where he shows me what each deposit looks like. He leads me to a rather empty corner and gives me a helmet. I put on the light and start hacking away at the stone in the wall. Every 10 minutes I stop and shovel the stone into the wheelbarrow next to me. After about 2 hours I am soaked in sweat and tired. I am dirty and I have to push my wheelbarrow to the assigned lift to empty it.

"You have been at it for nearly 3 hours now and I am satisfied by what I see. You didn't find a deposit and your mining skills needs refining, but you did fine in general. I think we can go up again and then we can head out to loot after lunch." said Fudge.

"Thanks. I am exhausted." I said and put down my wheelbarrow.

I follow Fudge to the exit and begin the climb towards the light. We head all the way back from whence we came. At the entrance I start towards the bathroom, but Fudge takes hold of my arm.

"Where are you off to? It's lunch."

"I thought I would have a quick shower before I eat."

"No. Why do you want to shower?"

"So that I am clean again." I said confused by Fudges reaction.

"You only shower once every 2 days here. We don't have a lot of water to waste."

I stare at Fudge in disbelief, but somewhere deep down inside me, this makes sense. This is the end of the world after all. I turn towards Fudge and follow him towards the makeshift kitchen. We get 2 sandwiches and a glass of water for lunch. We find ourselves some place to sit and soon we are joined by the people that has been with us at breakfast.

"How did it go fledge?" asked Jackson.

"It went well. I am tired though." I said.

"If you think this is bad, you haven't felt nothing yet." replied Cronic.

"When you do a scout mission or train with the trigger-happy boys, you get to complain." Leo chipped in.

"Guys remember she is a fledge with only 2 days under her belt. We all remember what it was like in the beginning." said Fudge.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever Fudge. Build a bridge and get over it. This isn't the old world anymore. You either fight or you die." said Ghosted

A silence follows and a few murmurs in agreement is heard. The rest of lunch I sit quietly and listen to everyone talking about the day's activities so far. Fudge tells them what we have done and a brief overview of the results. He seems for the most part relieved by my performance. Ghosted takes a map out of his pocket and lays it down on the ground. Fudge and Ghosted proceeds in making markings and symbols which I have yet to learn. The rest of the group also chimes in with opinions and draws lines from one place to another. It looks like we are settled just outside the desert in a green forest like area. On the map I also see white areas which has been crossed out by a huge X. Fudge sees my confusion and shows the map to me. The big crossed out area is a snow biome which they are to avoid due to the drop in temperatures and lack of equipment for such a travel. The markings on the map usually represents towns and what building is where.

"Fudge told us that you might strike gold in your run later today." said Robby

"What do you mean?" I ask confused.

"Apparently there is a storage room in the supermarket and if you tap that, we will all be eating for weeks to come." said Robby

"That is possible yes, but first we have to get in there and also hope that we don't get swamped by walkers."

"Is there a chance of that?" asked Ghosted.

"Actually yes. It might be that people hid there in the hopes of riding out the end of the world in safety. Most people expect it to last a week or so."

"It seems like we must take extra fire power with us." said Ghosted to Fudge.

"Yeah I am sure that the trigger-happy boys can spare an automatic." replied Cronic.

"Ja. Not only them must have fun." replied Heinrich in a thick German accent.

We finish the last of our meal and wash up the dishes. I go inside the building to relieve myself and on the way out, I look in my room to see that everything is still there. Satisfied, I walk back outside to where Ghosted and Fudge is waiting for me. We walk together to the weapons locker and each of us gets a bow, arrows, water and 1 gun. Ghosted gives me a big duffel bag which I swing over my shoulder and we walk to the bridge together. We take the trolleys we left at the entrance and set off in the direction of the town again.

We reach the town, and everything is quiet. The only sounds that surrounding us is the sound of the birds chirping. We walk down the street to the market with our trolleys. Along the way we talk to each other in hushed voices, so we don't attract attention to ourselves. We are discussing strategies as to how to clear out the storage room when we get to it. Our main goal is to clear out the store before we break the lock to the storage room, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.

"What do you think is the best way to run up and down?" asks Ghosted.

"What do you mean run up and down?" I ask.

"Well we have up until 18:00 tonight to clean this place. We can do more than 1 run in that time. It's only 12:00." says Ghosted

"I would suggest the best option would be to get a pick up truck and park it just outside the town. One of us will then be the runner and fill up the truck whilst the other 2 loots. We swap duffels and trolleys the whole time."

"Not the worst idea ever. Do you think that John will let us borrow the truck for this?" asks Fudge.

"We can only ask. I suggest you run back and ask Fudge and then either park with the truck and meet us at the entrance again or you come empty handed and we try and make another plan." I suggest.

"That is a good idea. I will see you guys in about 40 minutes." said Fudge.

Ghosted and I walk on to the store. When we reach the entrance, we both sit down on the ground in the warm sun. We wait in silence the entire time. No walker comes into sight. I take out my water bottle and take a few sips. I look to my right and I see nothing, so I close my eyes and retreat back into my own private world. I must have fallen asleep or zoned out because suddenly I feel pain in my left side. I jump up and grab the knife I have in my pocket, ready to cut down what I need to.

"Relax. It's only me. I am talking to you, but you are either deaf or you fell asleep. Fudge should be here any minute." says Ghosted.

"Dude. Why do you insist on scaring me? You could have just touched my shoulder or something."

"I am not your mother. I don't wake you up like a princess."

"I am not a princess. I just don't like the way you deal with me."

"Deal with it."

I look to my right again and I see Fudge on the horizon. We both get up from the ground and wait for him to get to us. When Fudge reaches us, he is all smiles and perky.

"I gots the keys ladies! I parked the pick up down the road and not at the town entrance. It stirred some walkers, but I picked them off." said Fudge.

Ghosted goes to the entrance and signals for us to follow. We leave the trolleys outside and fall into our formation. Our main focus is cleaning the store from walkers and then loot. When we reach the shelves, we each split up and take one isle. When the isle is clear, we go to the next one. I see a walker on the floor and stab it in the head. The sound of metal hitting bone and then meat makes my skin crawl. It sounds almost like a paper being crumbled up whilst spilt water hits the ground. Close by I hear similar sounds as one of the guys takes down another walker. We continue this dance of death until we reach the last isle. The store has been cleaned out and we feel safe enough to start gathering supplies. We gather the trolleys and start looting. I head to the breakfast isle and stock up on a much oats as my duffel can handle. In the trolley I add everything else that doesn't fit. I gather about 50 boxes of porridge before I move on. My goal is to clean the entire isle starting with the needed and useful first. The rest of the isle is flour and baking supplies which I take anyway. For all I know, this could help us. Fudge is in the cans isle and add everything he can find. Jam, peas, soup and anything else edible. Ghosted is in the next isle taking what is left of the snacks, sweets and treats.

We have cleaned out about half of the store of supplies and out bags and trolleys are full to the brim. We still have the rest to do and then there is a matter of what we can get in the storage room. I make the first run to the pick up truck with my trolley and go to empty its contents. After me is Fudge and lastly Ghosted. Whilst Ghosted is emptying his load, Fudge is raiding the next isle of pastas and rice. There is enough pasta in his trolley to feed the entire camp for 2 weeks if we only lived off pasta. For some reason people didn't think pasta would help them when the world came to an end. Everyone went for the meat first and then the bread, eggs and perishables. I guess nobody thought it would last this long. Their loss, our gain.

I walk through the hardware section, picking out a hammer and a crowbar to open doors and locks with. This should help with whatever awaits me and I head to the very back of the store. Fudge is close behind me with his trolley already half way full again with supplies.

"I am going to listen for any walkers and then try to break in." I say to Fudge as quietly as I can.

"Good. When Ghosted returns I am going to get the truck and bring it to the front so we can load faster and then we go back to camp to unload." whispers Fudge.

"Are we coming back?"

"Of course, we are. It is a big store with still a lot of things here to gather."

"A quick question. Do you think I should take everything in the baby and children section for the camp?"

"It would be a good idea. Help the kids at the camp and we can distribute what we don't use or need to one of our other camps. It will relieve the burden."

I nod and lean against the door. I try to listen for any sounds in the back room, but nothing is showing signs of life or death. I knock against the door and listen again. I hear rustling of something, but it could possibly be rats. I knock again and this time harder. I lean against the door again and listen. The rustling sound I hear is still there, but I hear nothing else. Looking at the door I can see that it has no pad lock so it can only be opened with a key. I will have to use the crowbar then. I force the crowbar in between the door and the door frame and start to pull. It doesn't budge so I try again. The wood of the door chips, giving me a better grip with the crowbar. I try again and more wood breaks off. I try again and the wooden frame breaks. I move the crowbar a little higher and try again. I can hear the wood moaning in protest at the force of the crowbar, but I keep at it. Ghosted comes from behind and taps me on the shoulder. I turn around and look up at Ghosted.

"Let me give it a go little one. I have some more muscle to speed up the process." said Ghosted.

I give him the crowbar and he rams it in between the door and the frame. He pulls once on the crowbar and the door starts to splinter. This action is repeated 4 times and suddenly the lock breaks and the door give way. Ghosted pushes open the door with his foot. His bow ready for action. He takes a few steps in and the 2 of us follows close behind him. Suddenly Ghosted stops dead in his tracks and stares ahead. I peak around him and what I see makes my blood freeze. Three people hangs from the ceiling on a noose. The bottom halves of their bodies has been shredded completely and they just aimlessly hang there. They see us and stretches out their arms towards us. No sounds escape their mouths. Around the 3 hanging walkers are about 15 more walkers roaming about. I want to scream, but I don't dare make a sound. The walkers must have heard us anyway, because they are slowly making their way towards us. I jump out from behind Ghosted and start aiming my bow. Fudge gets on Ghosteds other flank and we start shooting. With every shot, we take a step back. We took down about 5 walkers when we suddenly walk into the wall behind us. Panic floods me and Ghosted swears loudly. We are trapped and we need more space. Fudge moves to the right and draws 4 walkers towards him.

"SPLIT UP AND SHOOT BECAUSE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT." yells Fudge.

I make my way to my left and a small group follows me. Ghosted seems to be frozen, because he doesn't move. I don't have the option to help him, because I am a little busy at the moment with my group of walkers. Ghosted doesn't stop shooting though, so he has that going for him. I aim and shoot as best as I can and manage to take down 3 walkers out of the 6. Suddenly I feel a sharp pain in my left arm. I am thrown off balance and stumble to the ground. I try to break my fall, but my arm gives way. I look to my arm and see an arrow sticking out of my left arm. I don't have time to examine it in depth and try to recover from the situation. I can move my arm, but when I try to strain the muscles, the pain shoots through my arm and I yelp out loud.

"FUCK I HAVE BEEN SHOT. I NEED HELP. FUCK. I CAN'T USE THIS ARM PROPERLY!" I yell.

"SHIT SORRY. I WILL BE THERE IN A SECOND!" yells Fudge.

I scoot backwards some more because I still have 3 walkers coming towards me. My heart is pounding in my ears. The first walker drops down towards me and grabs my leg. Before it could sink its teeth into my leg, I kick as hard as I can. A familiar sound of bone that breaks tells me that I hit my target. I take the knife out of my pant pocket and scoot back some more. The second walker falls over the first one giving me a small gap to get me to safety. I scramble up and take a few more steps back. Suddenly another arrow whizzes past my head and hits the wall behind me. It missed me by inches. I dodge in the other direction and I try to aim my bow again. Again my arm protests in a angry shooting pain. My hand feels numb and my arm soaking wet with blood. The walkers are getting closer when the third walker drops to the floor. Ghosted walks forward and shoots the one closest to me. Another walker drops. The last walker turns around and Ghosted shoots once more and the walker drops to the ground. I look confused between Fudge and Ghosted. I am aware of the fact that I am shaking a little and I feel weak. I sink down to the ground and sit. Ghosted runs to me and looks at my arm.

"For fuck sakes. The arrow went right through. Your useless to me now. Fudge you fucking twat. You shot her in the arm and now she is useless." says Ghosted.

"I am so sorry. I didn't mean to. Everything happened so fast. I missed, but I didn't think that would matter." pleads Fudge.

"Fuck. Your ass is gonna get kicked when we go back to camp. Give me a fucking cloth or your belt."

Fudge takes off his belt and gives it to Ghosted.

"Please don't report this to John. He will skin me for this." says Fudge.

"Fudge. How am I going to explain that a girl got an arrow sticking out of her arm?" Ghosted asks angrily.

"I didn't do it on purpose. It was an accident. I am sure we can side step this somehow."

"Do you seriously want to shift the blame when you fucked up?"

"N...No. No I don't. I just don't want John to know."

"You should have thought of that before you missed."

Ghosted takes the belt and puts it around my arm. He winds it as tight as he can and fastens the belt above the wound.

"Sugar. We need sugar." I tell Ghosted.

"For what do you need sugar? Do you fancy a snack when you get shot?" replies Ghosted sarcastically.

"No. For the wound. If you pour sugar on it, it will stop the bleeding quicker."

"FUDGE. GO FIND A BAG OF SUGAR." shouts Ghosted.

"STOP YELLING AT ME! I MADE A MISTAKE AND THAT HAPPENS TO ANYONE!" shouts Fudge.

"YEAH WELL OTHER PEOPLES MISTAKES DOESN'T USUALLY END IN A MAN DOWN!"

"YOU ARE ONE TO TALK. HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN WHY YOU ARE DOING SCUT?"

"Guys! Stop it please and get me the sugar. I feel lightheaded and we still need to finish raiding." I said.

"You are in no condition to continue. We pack up what we have, and we go back. We need to get you to the doctor before you lose the arm!" replied Fudge.

"Hence the sugar. Please. I will be fine. The bleeding just needs to stop."

"Right. Ill search for some sugar."

"Thank you."

"You better not turn. I will be pissed if you bite me." said Ghosted.

"Wouldn't dream of it." I replied dryly.

Fudge comes back with a bag of sugar. He opens it and pours it onto the wound. I lay down on the ground and watch the white turn into pink and then to dark red. I turn around to lay on my stomach and Fudge does the same again on the other side. Again I watch the sugar turn in colour. I lay on the ground for another 10 minutes before I sit up.

"You think you can handle finishing here?" asked Ghosted.

"Yeah yeah. I'll be fine. Let's see what there is to take and load the truck." I reply

"I think it's best if I go to fetch the truck whilst the both of you check the rest of the place out." said Fudge.

"You do that. Don't attract more attention." replied Ghosted.

Fudge turns and walks out the door. We split up and start reading what is on the boxes. I managed to find a section with fruit and vegetables that has all rotted. Ghosted seems to be quite intrigued by what he found. Next to the vegetables I find a box marked 'Seed. Allsorted.'. I rip open the plastic and try to take down a box. The box is a bit big so I try to use both arms, but the box slips out of my hands and falls to the floor. I hardly have the use of my arms. A nerve must have been caught by the arrow. Ghosted looks up from where he is when he heard the box drops. Satisfied that we aren't in any danger, he continues to read what he was busy with. I walk towards Ghosted.

"Ghosted. I found a box of seeds and I think it might be of use to us. If it is what I suspect it is, we can grow more food!" I say with excitement.

"Go check then." he replied.

"Uhm. The thing is...I can't. I tried, but I can't. I need help. Can you maybe help me please?"

"Yeah give me a minute. I am reading this."

Ghosted reads the rest of the boxes and then walks around to where I dropped the box. He kneels down and break the seal on the box. I open the box and inside I find 1000's of small packets of seeds. Mushrooms, corn, snowberries, blueberries, golden rod, potato and chrysanthemum seeds. We can create a massive farm on these seeds alone. On the shelve there are many more similar boxes. We can feed a whole army with these. I get more and more excited about my find. Outside I hear the sound of an engine running.

"That should be Fudge." I said.

"Yeah. Took him long enough. Look we aint bringing you back for the second load. You need medical help."

"I am fine. It just needs to be cleaned and the arrow removed, and a bandage and I can come help."

"No. I am not bringing someone along that is just going to slow us down."

"I can drive the truck then."

"Not with your arm no."

"What are you a doctor now? Have you deemed me useless for duty?"

"No, but I have first aid training."

Fudge walks in and we both look in his direction. Fudge stops in his tracks and looks bewilderedly between the two of us.

"What? What's wrong? Did I mess up again?" asked Fudge.

"No. We were just discussing the rest of the haul. Ghosted doesn't want me to finish the run with you guys because mr first aid expert here feels that I am officially useless to you." I reply.

"Shut up. I didn't say you are useless. I said you are a liability and will slow us down. There is a difference." snapped Ghosted.

"Fuck off you trout. I am not anybody's issue except my own." I snap back.

"Woah guys. Chill. Listen, I think Ghosted might be right. That is a bad injury and the fact that you can't use the arm, says enough."

"What will it take to convince you that I can do this?"

"Nothing." replied Ghosted and Fudge as one.

"Feels like I am being babied." I mumble quietly.

"You can whine all you like, but it isn't going to bring you anywhere. Get your ass up and onto the back of the truck. I don't want you bleeding on the seats." said Ghosted.

I get up off the ground, but it takes me a few tries to do it with just hand. Eventually I manage awkwardly by sitting on my knees first and pushing myself up with the healthy arm. I walk a few paces, but I feel unsteady on my feet. I stumble a little on my way to the door and I start to feel sweaty and tired. I am confused as to why I am struggling.

"You good over there?" asks Fudge.

"Uh...yeah. I'm fine." I lie.

I continue out the door to the store. Half way through the store, my legs give in. I am panting and cold sweat breaks out on my forehead. All of the sudden I feel something touch my left arm. I swing around and take the knife out of my pocket. Just before I almost stab towards the figure, I see it is Fudge.

"Whoah there! It's just me. I mean you no harm." says Fudge and holds his hands up high.

"Sorry." I mutter.

"It's okay. I saw you struggling, and I thought I would check to see if you are okay. I seem to be on time. You okay?"

"I am just a little dizzy."

"You can stop acting brave. You must be shitting yourself with pain and the blood loss has made you weak. 'A little dizzy' is an understatement. Let me help you." Fudge says and offers me a helping hand.

I sit there looking at him for a minute before I take his hand and let him pull me up. Fudge puts my arm around his neck, and we walk to the exit. Outside, Fudge helps me onto the truck, and I sit down at the back. Occasionally one of them comes out with a box or a crate and loads it onto the truck. When the back is fully loaded with 2 layers of boxes forced in between the already added supplies, both guys get in the truck and we drive back to camp. It takes us 15 minutes to get to camp. They open the draw bridge and we pass through. Jenny greets us with a cheer and 3 other people that is there to help unload. I don't move from my spot whilst the others unload the truck. Lastly I scoot over to the edge of the truck and Ghosted grabs my legs and lifts me high. He sits me on his shoulder.

"What are you doing?! Have you lost your mind? I can fall!" I protest.

"Shut up. I'm taking you to the doctor. What exactly was your plan for getting off the truck? Drop and roll? Magic?" replies Ghosted.

"I can take care of myself!" I protest.

"I said shut that hole in your face. You are making noise."

"Rude!"

Ghosted chuckles and walks towards the entrance. At the entrance he lifts me off his shoulder and puts me on the ground. Ghosted bends down a little and holds me by the waist to support me while we are walking to the hospital section. In the recovery ward we pass the sick and the wounded. Ghosted stops outside the doctors office and knocks loudly.

"Doc! We got a wounded here! Can you help please?" Ghosted shouts.

"I am a little busy at the moment. How severe is the wound?" the voice pf doctor Mc Comrick comes from the other side.

"It's more than a scratch. She isn't bitten, but she did get shot." replies Ghosted.

"Okay. Give me 5 minutes. Sit the patient down in the surgery room." the doctor replies.

As we turn to the left, we hear something fall and a gasp.

"Are you okay in there doc?" asks Ghosted turning back to the door.

"Y...YES! Yes everything is fine. Don't worry. I uh. I just dropped a book!" comes a high pitched reply.

"She's fucking. I guarantee it." whispers Ghosted to me.

"How do you know?" I whisper back.

"Only someone who is guilty of something answers like that and I promise you it's something naughty and dirty."

"So I get to bleed to death while she is being the local slut?"

"Don't be so hard on her. If you weren't a virgin, then you would have mercy with her."

"What makes you think I am still a virgin!? I ask flabbergasted.

"SHHHH! I don't want her to hear the conversation. Only a virgin speaks like you do."

"What? No. I am just a proper lady."

"Yeah yeah. If you ever want to live a little then I can help you out. I promise you won't be disappointed." Ghosted replies with a wide grin.

"When hell freezes over, yes."

"So now?"

I slap him on the arm, but rather weakly as I can't do much with the wounded arm. Ghosted laughs and I grin. We walk into the surgery room and I sit on the bed. Ghosted turns around and walks out the door.

Shortly after Ghosted left, doctor Mc Comrick enters the room. I glance her over and she looks completely composed and neat. The only sign of something out of place is the red flush on her cheeks and her hair is just a little bit untidy. Maybe Ghosted was right or maybe, she was just in a hurry.

"Oh, back here so soon? Was 1 night in isolation not enough for you?" she asks.

"I couldn't resist so I decided to get shot in the arm." I reply sarcastically.

"There are many ways to get attention and this isn't a healthy one." she chuckles.

"Can you fix it please? I want to continue the loot run."

"I am afraid I don't think you will be up for action for the rest of the day. Maybe not tomorrow either."

The doctor goes to the table and opens a cupboard. She takes out a small box and takes out some gloves. She puts the box aside and takes out another 2 boxes. She opens them up and takes out bandages. She takes a small chair and rolls it over to where I am sitting and adjusts the height of the chair and lowers the surgical bed. She pushes a table on wheels towards me and sits down on the chair.

"Righty. Let's see the damage." she says.

Mc Comrick lifts up my arm and turns it in every direction to see both sides of the arm. She motions for me to lay down and she scoots closer to me. I can smell the faint smell of sweat and sex on her. She takes something from the table, but I don't pay attention.

"Okay so you are going to want to look away. Look to the other side of the room and describe to me what you see." she says.

"Okay. Uhm. I see a table. I see...HOLY SHIT! FUCK!" I scream as the pain sears through my arm.

"I only clipped off the biggest part of the arrow. I need you to take a few deep breaths. I am going to examine how deep this out and then I am going to numb your arm and take out the arrow. It will hurt either way so keep telling me what you see." says the doctor.

"Fuck this hurts! Urhg. Ah! Phew. Please no more. Just numb it and then you can do whatever you want."

"I know this is painful. I need you to breathe. I can numb the arm, but the bad news is I can't numb it so there is no feeling. I can only numb it to take the edge off. I don't have more lidocaine so I can't give you more."

"If I find you a fucking hospital, I will bring you all the stuff I can find."

"That would be nice, but I am afraid most hospitals are already looted."

"I don't give a fuck. I will find one that has lidocaine."

"Good luck to you then. This won't be happening soon though; you can't go out in a state like this."

"I will find a way."

"Your persistence and willpower are strong. It will get you through this quicker then. Mind if I experiment with it?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Yes, but I would prefer it if you consent."

"Fine."

"Ok I have really bad news for you. As strong as your willpower is, it won't get you through this. There is a strong chance you will lose the arm and become disabled. I think you should prepare to become a paper pusher."

"Bullshit. You can fix the arm."

"Actually, not as good as one would hope. With the lack of proper medical equipment, the best I can do is restore minimal health to you. I might have to amputate depending on the nerve damage and the torn vessels."

"I have no idea what you just said, but I will not lose the arm! You will fix it! I AM GOING TO MURDER FUDGE!" I bellow.

"I am sorry to say this, but it won't help. The damage is severe and with this damage, I am 80% sure that you have little to no feeling below the wound anyway. You hands should be numb. Am I right? Can you feel this?" she replied stroking my arm.

"I CAN FEEL IT WEAKLY, BUT THE POINT REMAINS I CAN FEEL IT! HOLY FUCK THIS HURTS! OW! AAAAAAH!" I scream.

"Stop shouting and getting worked up. This isn't helping."

"OH YEAH? HOW ABOUT I SHOOT YOU IN THE ARM AND SEE IF YOU ARE DOING BETTER? AAAAAAAH!"

"Threatening is going to get you nowhere and the movement is making the bleeding worse. Please stay still."

"Shut up! Just..shut...up..."I start seeing darkness scooping me up and folding me in its arms.

"Are you okay? IceTiger?" I hear the doctors voice.

"I'm..." I mutter and give into the darkness.

Day 4:

I wake up feeling groggy. It's dark around me. I look to my left and then to my right. I see people around me. I must be in the recovery wing. I try to sit up, but I can't. My body won't let me. I feel shaky and tired. I wonder what happened and how long have I been out? By the looks of it, it must be the middle of the night. A noise to my right attracts my attention. I see the door open of the doctor's office and a figure appear in the doorway. I can't quite make out who it is. My eyes are unfocused, and my eyelids are heavy.

"How is she?" I hear the voice asking.

"She lost a lot of blood, but she will be fine. She has been out since yesterday afternoon. I have been checking her vitals, but no change." the doctor replies.

"Will she be able to keep the arm?"

"Yes it's no problem. I was able to repair most damage. She might have nerve damage, but we will only know when she wakes up."

"Keep me posted then please."

"Sure thing Fudge. Get some rest. You deserve it after the past 2 days haul. You really made a difference and because of you and Ghosted, we will have supplies to last us long."

"It's uh...not my idea...I uh...helped. IceTiger was the one with the storage locker idea. The locker still isn't empty yet so today we are going with a big truck to load it all."

"Oh wow. Okay. Thanks for being honest."

"I can't take credit for someone else's brilliance. She made an impression on Ghosted and John."

"On me too."

I try to call out to the both of them, but all I manage is a simple moan. The conversation quiets all of the sudden. I try again and the only thing that escapes is another moan. I try to lift my arm, but I manage only a few centimetres before it falls again.

"Hold on. I will go have a look. Maybe it's Tiger."

I hear footsteps coming to me and a figure coming closer. It looks like it's the doctor and close by the other figure is following.

"Tiger. Are you awake? Can you hear me?" asks the doctor and stands by my bed.

I try again to speak, but again I manage only a moan. I see a bright light flashing in my eyes and I try to blink it away. My body feels like lead that I can't pick up and move. I feel something cold to my chest and it starts getting dark around me again. I hear noise, but I can't make out the words and I am gone again.


	3. Chapter 3

Day 5:

I wake up again to the sunlight shining outside. I look around me and see that I am still in the recovery section. It seems a little emptier. Has someone died? Has someone recovered and walked out of here with their story of survival to tell? I turn my head towards my arm and see it covered in thick bandages. I see the outlines of dried blood on the bandages. Have my bandages been changed at all? Am I just bleeding that much? Are these reused bandages that has just been washed? My attention shifts and I look to see if the doctor or anyone is around to talk to. I see nobody so I decide to give it a chance to sit up again. I manage to roll onto my side and support myself on my good arm. I push myself up a little so I can sit up in the bed. Obviously, I am still weak, but this is a massive improvement on the previous time I was awake. I have no idea how long I have been out. Has it been days? Hours? Weeks? I doubt its weeks though, but you never know.

"Hello?" I call out.

My voice still isn't strong, but it should attract attention. Nobody stirs though.

"Hello?" I try to call out a little louder. The guy next to me opens his eyes and looks at me.

"Doctor? Can you hear me?" I try again.

"What's up buttercup?" ask the guy next to me.

"Nothing. I want to see the doctor." I reply.

"She is out. Probably out to lunch. I can entertain you though."

"No thanks."

"I'm Leonard, but you can call me Lenny sweet cakes."

"IceTiger." I reply ignoring his comment.

"Aw the lady is a tiger. Do you bite?" he asks laughing.

"Yes."

"Oh baby I love it. What'd you say you scoot on over next to me and I get to know you better?"

"No."

"Oh come on. Don't be like that. I just want to feel you bite."

"No."

"I won't bite if that helps."

"No."

"It's the end of the world love. I want to die with a belly full of brandy and a juicy pussy on my throbbing cock."

"Fuck you."

"Playing hard to get ey?"

"No. Are you deaf or stupid? I am not interested."

"Well my offer still stands any time you like babe."

"I will remember that."

"Good girl."

"How long have I been out?"

"I dunno. I don't have a sense of time here. Wasn't long though."

I lay back against my pillow and contemplate how long I have to sit here, before someone comes to rescue me from this creep next to me. I cannot believe the audacity he has to hit on me like that. So rude. I try to move my fingers on the injured arm. My fingers are very stiff, and I struggle to move them, but with effort I can wiggle them a little. I try to lift my arm, but it is very heavy, and I can't get it up in the air as high as I want to. My hand also feels rather cold. I try again to lift my arm but yelp out in pain.

"What are you doing over there pumpkin? You got hurt?"

"Yeah. I got shot."

"Lucky you."

"I don't feel so lucky."

"I got some broken ribs and one foot less. Zombos got to me and ate my foot."

"Sorry to hear that."

"Is all good. Ain't nothin I can do about it anyway."

I look over to Leonard. He is very skinny and tall. He is taller than the cot that he is laying on. He has long hair that is tied back and has the look of a redneck. His accent also sounds like he is a redneck. He is wearing a white, sweat stained, t-shirt. His lower body is covered by blankets, but it doesn't look like he has any pants on. Maybe to make it easier to deal with his foot that has been cut off. I turn my head to look out the window and notice how thirsty and hungry I am. I can't remember the last time I ate. Was it before we went on our run? I think so yes. On the other side of the room I see a faucet with plastic cups. Maybe I can get myself a cup of water and then try and find food. I push myself to sit up even more in the bed and struggle. First, I put down my right foot and then my left on the floor.

"What are ya doin?"

"I am going to get some water."

"You aint strong enough lady. You are paler than cotton in a field."

"I am thirsty."

I scoot forward on the cot and try to get up. My first attempt doesn't work so I try again. The second time doesn't work either and I start breathing harder. I try again and push with my arm and this time I manage to get up on my feet. The world around me starts to spin and I feel ill. I try to grab hold of the bed and miss. I lose my balance and hit the floor. Pain sears through me and I cry out in pain. I fell on the left side and it hurts more than I can put into words. Tears escape from the corner of my eyes and I roll onto my back.

"Are you alright little lady? It looks like you are hurting." someone calls out.

"No." I whimper.

"What happened? Did you hurt yourself?" the voice comes again.

"Yeah. Where are you?"

"I am behind the curtained off bed. They don't want everyone to see how badly I am hurt."

"Oh."

I lay on the cold floor hoping that by some miracle that the pain will subside, but it only increases. Darkness is coming for me again. My old friend greets me softly.

I wake up with a startle and look around frantically. I am on my cot again and I have no recollection of how I got there. I look around me and it's still daylight.

"Welcome back sweet cheeks. You sleep well?" asks Lenny.

"What...What happened?"

"Ye fell and hurt your arm. You passed out just a few minutes before the doc came in. She called one of them bigger fellas and they put you to bed. You want me to give you a cuddle?"

"No thanks. I just want the doctor."

"She is in her office. I don't recommend you getting up again though. Just holler."

"Doctor!" I call out.

The doctor appears in the doorway and looks around for where the noise came from.

"Doctor." I call out again.

"Ah good, you are awake!" replies Mc Comrick.

She walks to my bed and stands next to me. She pulls a chair closer and sits down. She takes the clip board on the table and looks through the papers.

"You have reinjured your arm and caused me quite a bit of extra work. I am not impressed, but I find it good that you are alert and trying to get back into the action. You have to slow down though. You can't just expect to stroll out of here like nothing happened. How are you feeling?"

"I feel out of it. It's like I was put into a washing machine and it spun me around."

"That is to be expected. The blood that you have lost and the medication I gave you tends to have that effect. The blood cost me quite a bit of promises, but lucky for you, you have already paid your debt and made up for it a few times."

"What do you mean?"

"Fudge told me you are the mastermind behind the supermarket looting. We have so much food and supplies, we can live off it for a whole month! They still have the rest of the supermarket to bring home because there are smaller shops all around with many things that could be useful. We have batteries now, so we actually have light in the darkness now. We have a lot of baby supplies which as well is handy for the 2 pregnant women in the camp and we had more than enough left over to donate to 3 of our other camps. The men should be back later today with the last load and then we can breathe."

"Oh. Uhm. Well it was just an idea and it's them doing all the work."

"I know, but without you it wouldn't have been possible. It made me excited for the odd chance you find a hospital! I can tell you where to hit the jackpot for everything I will need."

"Right. So uhm. Can I maybe have some water and something to eat?"

"Not right now no. I need to do a full work up and if I am satisfied, then I can give you food and water."

"How long have I been out?"

"This is your 4th day with us so 1 and a half days."

"Okay. That isn't as bad then."

"When you go out on a run like that and you happen to find a clinic or a hospital, would you mind bringing me supplies?"

"Sure. Can't be that hard."

"Thank you. I will provide you with a list of items I need. Now I need you to be quiet so I can listen to your heart and lungs." the doctor said holding her stethoscope ready.

I sit there silently waiting for the doctor to finish. She takes my temperature, my blood pressure, presses randomly on my stomach and looks at my throat. As she goes along, she takes notes and seems lost in her own world. Next she makes me sit up in bed completely and unwinds the bandages on my arm. She looks at the wound and takes more notes. Her brow furrows, but she says nothing. I look down at my arm and see a gaping hole in my arm. I can still see blood oozing out of the wound. The wound is so deep that I can see the bone. Mc Comrick tries to examine the wounds and touches the outer edge of the wound. I flinch and pull back. She takes out a small light and shines it directly into the gaping hole. She has a puzzled and confused expression and the anticipation is driving me insane.

"What is it? What is wrong?" I ask not being able to contain my anxiety.

"Hmmm? Oh uhm I am just curious about what exactly we are going to do here. I can't stitch your arm. It will take way too long and I don't have the help I need, and it will require me adding a layer of stitches to the wound weekly. I don't have enough resources for that, and I would like to get you on the go again. I can't staple it. I can't do a graph. I think our only option is cauterizing the wound."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I burn the veins close so you can stop bleeding and let it heal like that, although it will still not solve the problem with the hole in your arm. You can't go around with an exposed hole in your arm where the bone is sticking out."

"Makes sense. Why don't you burn it and then just stitch it from the top?"

"I don't think it will work well. That spot will be weak and vulnerable forever."

"Can't you take a chunk of meat from somewhere and stuff it in there?"

"You mean a transplant?"

"Yeah."

"It might work with organs, but it doesn't quite work that way with muscle. You might have a permanent problem where this arm will not function 100%"

"Why won't a transplant work with muscle?"

"We can try it. It's your choice, but I doubt it will work. I will have to see what is available to me to do this. I can't exactly go around and grab someone by the arm and slice a chunk of muscle from their arm."

"I am not saying you do that. Ask first and then you slice. Someone here has to have bulky muscles." I say with a grin.

"Give me some time to figure it out. In the meantime, I will cauterize some of the bigger bleeding veins. I will be right back."

The doctor gets up from the chair and I sit back against the pillows. I wonder if this will hurt. It's very sensitive already. Sticking a burning pin in it will surely not be just mildly sore. She is literally going to burn it close. Within minutes the doctor is back with a lighter, a small bowl and a metal pin. The smell from the bowl is a very sharp smell that reminds me of a hospital. It smells like disinfectant and alcohol. The doctor puts on gloves and takes a syringe. She gently inserts the syringe with a small thin needle into the wound and I yelp in pain. She stops and waits for me to settle again. She tries again and the same thing happens.

"Look, you have got to sit still in order for me to help you." she replied with a hint of annoyance.

"Sorry. It hurts really badly."

"I understand, but this will numb the pain. I just need you to sit still for a few seconds."

"I will try."

"Thank you."

I grit on my teeth as she pushes in the needle again and loud moans escape from my throat. It hurts so much. After the first prick is over, I thought to myself that this was it, the worst is over, but I was wrong. I just started to relax again when she sticks the needle in again. I pull back and yelp in pain.

"Seriously! This hurts! How much more?"

"We can leave it and do it while you can feel the full force of the cauterization if you want?"

"That's probably going to hurt worse, isn't it?"

"I imagine so yes so if you don't want that then I suggest you keep still please."

I groan and clench on my teeth again. I can't bear to look at the needle, I have always had a deep-set fear of needles. I absolutely hate them. As I child I would try to avoid injections to such a point that I would hide instead of facing it. This time the needle doesn't hurt as much. Maybe it's becoming numb or the pain is just stronger than the prick of a needle. Who knows, maybe I will overcome my fear and now have a completely new fear against arrows?

"Ok we are done with numbing the arm. So, what's going to happen is, I am going to clean the wound as well as I can and then start. Be warned, you will feel some off it. I will try to be quick, but it's best to rather take some time and seal the wound properly. Are you ready?"

"I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"No." she said with a grin.

Mc Comrick takes a sponge and dips it into the strong-smelling liquid. She squeezes out the extra solution and turns back to me. Firstly, she gently rubs over the wound and then slowly increase pressure. The moment she started adding pressure, it started to burn. My eyes are going watery just smelling the stuff and the burning is increasing. She dips the sponge back into the solution and squeezes out the sponge a few times again. This time she doesn't even hold back and starts to scrub. The pain is now searing badly, and I want to yell. I start clenching my teeth together trying not to yell. Just as I was about to lose the fight and my painful groans turns into screams, she stops. I look at her and she is occupied with the small lighter and the pin. First, she dips the pin into the solution and dries it off with a tissue, then she holds it in front of her and lights the lighter. She slowly brings the lighter up to the pin and start heating it up. When the point of the pin starts to glow pink, she puts down the lighter onto the table and look at me. She gestures to me to look the other way and I feel fear in the depths of my chest. I know this is going to hurt like I haven't felt in a long time.

I close my eyes so that I don't expect the burn, but all I feel is a warmth on my arm. It doesn't burn. It feels uncomfortable yes, but it doesn't hurt. Confused at what is happening I open my eyes and look at my arm. The doctor is busy with the pin in my arm and I can hear the sound of burning meat.

"Wh..what's going on?"

"Why what's wrong?"

"I can't feel any pain."

"That is good then or are you complaining?"

"No, no. I am just confused because I was expecting a whole lot of pain."

"I numbed the area up remember. You felt me scrubbing the wound because I cleaned over a fresh injection. The lidocaine hasn't set in yet whilst I was scrubbing."

"I guess that makes sense in a way."

She turns her head back to the task at hand and continue. Every odd few minutes, she stops and heats up the pin again. I sit back and watch her closely. After 10 minutes, she looks up quite pleased with the results and takes the suture kit. She takes the thread and start with closing the gap in my arm. When she is satisfied with the result, she takes gauze and puts betadine on it and puts it on the wound. She takes a bandage that is clean and wraps my arm in it again.

"Righty. That should keep you set. It's best if you keep still. Firstly, you still are weak by the blood loss and you will still be for a little bit so don't try to get up and walk without an aide. I advise you to not pick at it or scratch at it. It will itch. It will start to hurt, but don't touch it. Upon closer examination and the lack of blood I got to see the wound a lot better and the good news is, I think we can close the gap without needing extra material. I will have to monitor and see. I will need to test for nerve damage and what exactly is wrong with the arm. The bad news is that you are going to walk out of here with an arm that isn't as strong as it was, and I fear it never will be again. You will still be able to do everyday tasks, but heavy lifting isn't anywhere in your near future. I recommend that whatever they chose you for, that you try and let the others pull a bit of extra weight on your behalf or you can give in and become a paper pusher."

"You are just a ray of sunshine, aren't you?" I reply sarcastically.

"I try to be" she replied with a grin.

Mc Comrick picks up the supplies on the small table next to me and turns around swiftly and disappears to where she conducts her surgeries. I lay back and look around the room. Nothing has changed, but I am already bored. There is nothing to do here. I hope that someone takes pity on me and brings me a book or something otherwise I will go stir crazy. I can't sit around for hours doing nothing and I don't want to talk to the people around me either. The redneck hill billy next to me creeps me out and the other unidentified person is hidden behind curtains.

I open the drawer to the bedside table to see if there is maybe something inside, but when I lean over, I am disappointed to see there is nothing. I look to my other side and I don't see anything of use either.

"Doctor?!" I call out.

"Be there in a minute." comes the reply.

Mc Comrick appears in the doorway of her surgical practise with a concerned look.

"What is wrong? Who called?" she asks scanning the room.

"Me. I have a question."

She walks over to my bed and stands there waiting expectantly on my question.

"I want to know if I can maybe have a book to read or something? I am bored."

"Already? We only just finished your arm. I can give you medical text books to read, but other than that I don't have anything to read. If you fancy administrative work, then I can keep you busy for a year."

"Can't I go to the library or my quarters to get the book I was reading?"

"Nope. Not until I have cleared you from the infection. If you turn in the middle of a busy area, a lot of people will be pissed at me."

"I wasn't bit. I was shot with an arrow. I hardly think that will turn me."

"Procedure. No getting out of that. Either accept it or don't and I have to lock you up in isolation."

"Can you go get it then?"

"Do I look like a maid to you? I am a qualified surgical doctor. I don't play fetch. Now do you want to help and do something, or not?"

"Pass." I grunt.

"Fine. Your problem then. I am sure Dr. Steiner prefers to work alone anyway."

"Who?"

"Dr. Steiner."

"Who is he?"

"He is the other doctor around here. He is actually more a nurse than a doctor, but he has been learning from me."

"Yeah I think I remember him. Sits in your office behind a mound of paperwork?"

"Exactly. He only comes out when I am too busy."

"I see."

She turns around and walks to her office. I slide down a little in my bed and turn on my side. I pull the covers up till almost over my head and close my eyes. Soon sleep enfolds me into darkness whilst my soul takes a breath.

Day 6:

"EVERYONE TIME TO GET UP!" a loud voice booms through the room.

I jerk awake and look around frantically. I forgot about my injuries and try to push myself up with both arms. Pain sears through my arm and I moan in pain. I look up to where the noise came from and see John standing in the doorway, dressed and ready for action.

"ARISE, ARISE, GET UP!" he booms again.

Both doctors come fast paced out of the doctor's office and stands ready for action. Lenny has made an effort to sit up straight in his bed and I try to get up from my bed. I am still weak, so it takes a few minutes before I get it right.

"Good morning! As we all know we have 48 hours before the horde. I need all hands-on deck to ready the place. Those who can walk will be assisting. Defences will be upgraded today, and the standard code red will be implemented at exactly 6PM tonight after diner. Any questions?"

"Sir, we don't have anybody to spare really as we have severely injured patients. Icetiger has a big hole in her arm but lost a lot of blood. She can walk though. Lenny lost a foot. Jenifer has...uhm...that problem we discussed at length...where she can't...you know..."

"Good. I will allow them to stay on then. I will however need you to get supplies ready. I had our raiders go out and bring in a few stacks of clothing so that this can be crafted into bandages. We have brought you supplies to cook antibiotics on the chemistry station as well."

"Ok. You can bring it through to me and I will get everyone around here to work on that. Can you please bring me some wood to light a fire in the chemistry station?"

"It shall be done. I will send out 2 men to go chop wood. We anyway need extra wood to create spikes and dig some trenches with spikes."

"One more thing before you go. I hope you didn't bring all the clothes you got only for us as the people need clothes as well, especially when the rain comes or when our men goes to the snow biomes."

"We have clothes in reserve, but most of it is coming to make bandages. We will send out people again after horde night to collect more clothes and clothe everyone here. It's my job to worry about supplies, not yours. Your job is to get everyone healthy and craft medical supplies when needed."

"Understood."

"Good. Now if you have nothing more then I shall get back to prepping." John said and turned on his heel.

John walked out of the infirmary and Dr. McComrick sighed in relief as soon as the door closed. She turned to her assistant and whispered something in his ear and walked back to her office. The rest of the day was pretty slow and after lunch time, a guy with a basket full of clothes came by. He came in and out a couple of times and then was replaced by a new guy with buckets of white powder. Another came by with wood and another with more stuff that I didn't recognize. Lenny has been taken from his bed and taken somewhere else. Jenifer was given one look by the doctor and they wheeled her out on the bed. I caught a glimpse of her on the way out and she looked like she was torn to shreds in some places. A massive gaping wound was visible on her stomach. I had no idea that one could survive being halfway eaten. She looked extremely pale and like she was drenched in sweat. I laid back in my bed and must have drifted off.

The sound of a pistol shot ringing through the air jerked me awake. I look around to see where the shot came from, but I could not find the origin. I looked to my right and Lenny is still not in his bed and the place where Jenifer was supposed to be was empty. A bed was now there again and made up with fresh linen. Was Jenifer maybe in surgery? Was she put to work in her condition? A thousand more questions ran through my mind, but I could find no answers. The doctor came from her office and walked towards me. She smiled at me and sat down on a small chair. McComrick lifted up my arm and started to unbandage it. As she peeled away the layers, you could see the amount of blood that was absorbed. When she reached the end of the bandage, she threw it into a bucket next to her.

"Right. I need to see how much you have recovered. This will hurt. I also need to clean the wound again. There is a lot less blood than there used to be so that's a good sign. When I am done, I will redress the wound in a clean bandage and disinfect this one. I will let you rest for an hour after that, then you will be assisting Lenny at the chemistry station. "

"Sounds like a plan. Where is Jenifer?"

"Don't worry about her."

"What is horde night?"

"It is where the moon turns red and all the zombies gets fuelled by the moon and seeks out any living human and attack. They basically come in big hordes and try to get to us. It is our job to keep them out of the base."

"What does code red mean?"

"It means that nobody is allowed outside after 6 PM. Lights out is at 7PM, but that doesn't mean we have to sleep. It just means that we should stay in the sleeping quarters and no lights are allowed at all. It also means that our defenders will be patrolling the walls more often and more men will be put to work. All work around the base or inside the base will be postponed and everyone will be gearing up for horde night. We add extra layers of defence, all structural damages to the draw bridge, walls and spikes are to be repaired and more ammunition and health supplies will be created with supplies bought to us. Our blacksmiths will bring us all the iron arrow heads to create arrows, the feathers we collected will be used also. We have people making gun powder from coal and nitrate at the chemistry stations. The list goes on."

"Wow. That sounds like a lot of preparations."

"It is. After horde night we sort out the loot into individual storage chests and repair any damages to the base as well as tending to our wounded soldiers."

"What will I be doing? It's not like I can fight."

"You will be making bandages from cloth and arrows. You will be supplied with the material."

"But I don't know how to make this."

"It's easy. You use cloth to make bandages. The cloth you will get from scrapping clothes. Arrows require arrowheads, wood and feathers. The arrowheads have already been crafted in the forges out of iron and steel. All arrows will go to the fighting effort."

"You make it sounds simple."

"It is. It's just a lot of work. You aren't crafting 50 or so odd items. You will be crafting at least 100 bandages and over 500 arrows. It will keep you busy into the late hours of the night and you must be finished by the end of today. Tomorrow you have new things to do."

"Ok."

The doctor finished redressing the wound and went back to her office. She came out with the clothes and came to me. After showing me how to turn the clothes into cloth and the cloth into bandages, I got set to work with it. Admittedly it was a challenging task with me not being able to do a lot with my wounded arm. I got a small hunting knife and started tearing through the cloth to make strips of bandages. Once a bandage was crafted, it was neatly rolled up and placed into a box next to me. Time slipped by rather fast and when I looked at the clock again, it was nearly 5 pm. The doctor came to me at 16:45 and collected all that I had done from me. She was satisfied and I managed to craft 145 bandages and I still had another 70 cloths left I could turn into bandages.

I was helped up from my bed and escorted to another room where stacks of wood, feathers and arrows was to be seen everywhere. Ghosted was sitting there working on bows. Robbyy sat down at the work bench with me and showed me how to create arrows. I got to work until I got startled by a knock on the door. I look around and I see the doctor standing there with a smile.

"It's about 1 AM and the curfew has been long overdue. I have come to bring you to bed. You need to rest so that you can do work again tomorrow."

"Let me just wrap this last arrow and then we can go."

"Okay."

"Robbyy, how much did we do?"

"I don't know. Barely enough, but tomorrow is another day or shall I say later is another day." replied Robbyy.

"Well I don't think I would be stationed to do this again later today man."

"No problem. I will continue. Go sleep."

I finished the last arrow and got up from the work bench. The doctor guides me back to the infirmary and helps me get into bed. The doctor hands me a glass of water and 3 tablets.

"What are these for?" I ask.

"It's to keep you fit. You get a antibiotic tablet against any infection so you don't get sick. You get a pain tablet because I promise you, you will hurt tomorrow and the last is a sleeping tablet to help you sleep for a few hours."

"Thanks. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

I swallow the tablets and lay down in bed. As soon as I close my eyes, I drift off to sleep. My soul takes a breath.


End file.
